The Amarillo Wranglers traveled to El Paso to take on the Rhinos in two very important games last weekend.

Amarillo came up short in the first contest, falling 2-1, in a shootout, but did bounce back for a 4-3 victory Saturday night stopping a nine-game winless drought.

Interestingly enough, the last five games of this streak, the Wranglers lost these games by one goal each with three of those going into overtimes or a shootout.

Amarillo (15-20-2-2, 34 points) are currently in eighth place in the highly contested North American Hockey League’s South Division, four points out of sixth place, the final position for a playoff spot.

The Wranglers will return home for a pair of games with Oklahoma City on Friday and Saturday at the Budweiser Bullpen.

Friday’s game

Amarillo had not tasted victory since Thanksgiving and was looking to turn their misfortunes around.

Within 30 seconds of the first period, Amarillo’s the Hegs and the Hounds line, consisting of Daniel Ressega,  Canden Hegarty and Ty Izadi, started the scoring off when Izadi dropped the pass to Hegarty, starting the scoring off and giving Amarillo the early 1-0 lead. There was no further scoring in this period as Amarillo held onto the 1-0 lead going into the first break.

The second period saw its disproportionate share of chippiness and skirmishes throughout the period as Amarillo‘s newly acquired goalie Casimir Weckstrom played lights out, sporting his new number on his nameless jersey.  Number 1 suited Weckstrom very well throughout this game. With just five minutes left to play in the second period, Rhinos Jacob Solano went top shelf as he rifled one past Weckstrom, tying this game up 1-1 going into the final intermission.

The third period saw coast-to-coast action with lights out net minding from both goalies as this chippy and skirmish filled game remained tied 1–1 going into the final break. The third period of this game saw no scoring. This was the third overtime game in as many weeks for the Amarillo Wranglers. 

The five minute three on three overtime saw more outstanding goal tending on both ends of the ice and a shootout was necessary to end this game.

On El Paso‘s second pass in the shootout, Rhinos point leader Troy Hunka slid the puck underneath Amarillo goalie Casimir Weckstorm to score. This would be enough to end this shootout thriller.

Amarillo garnered one important point as a result of the overtime game, however ultimately taking their winless streak to nine games.

Saturday’s game

With all but two games being postponed in the South Division of the NAHL because of the massive winter storm last Saturday night, Amarillo looked to put a stop to their nine game winless streak. The Rhinos were on a mission to put themselves in the second place spot of the south division with a victory over Amarillo.

At the 11:41 mark of the first period, Rhino forward Troy Hunka started the scoring off by going top shelf and giving the Rhinos a 1–0 lead halfway through the first period. Amarillo Captain Jacob Miller scored his 7th goal of the season after taking a slap pass from linemate Jake Boulanger, tying this game up 1–1. With just two minutes left in the first period, the Rhinos were able to score as Gaige Giblin collected some loose change in front of the net, giving El Paso a 2–1 lead going into the first intermission.

The second period saw Wranglers hot stick handler Daniel Rassega score twice, giving Amarillo a 3–2 lead. The Rhinos scored a shorthanded goal against Amarillo at the 11:14 mark. As a result of this goal, an odd and cumbersome injury occurred to Amarillo goalie Casimir Weckstorm that required medical attention and removal from the game. Gavin Schahn in relief for the injured Weckstrom was perfect, saving 9-of-9 shots. This game was tied up 3–3 going into the final intermission.

Amarillo goalie Weckstrom was able to continue in the third period and exercised great rebound control while freezing the puck as he acted like a brick wall in the third period, holding the Rhinos scoreless. Amarillo forward and Ukrainian native Danylo Dolin received a saucer pass from linemate Mason Lupo, scoring his second NAHL game-winning goal of his career.

This victory put a death dagger in the longest winless streak of the season (nine games) and put the Amarillo Wranglers just four points out of the final playoff spot in the southern division, with 20 games left in the regular season. 

Newly acquired Amarillo goalie Casimir Weckstorm captured his first victory as a Wrangler, stopping 27 out of 30 shots.

College Commit

Amarillo Wrangler defenseman Tiernan O’Rourke will take his game to the next level as he has committed to play his college hockey at Connecticut College.

Connecticut college is known for its academic rigor and synthesizing multiple viewpoints into breakthrough ideas.

“Tiernan O’Rourke’s commitment is a credit to the work and perseverance he shows every single day,” Amarillo Wrangler head coach Michael Hill said. “As a right shot defenseman, he battled through adversity early on and earned his role by doing things the right way. He grew into a dependable shut out defenseman and became someone we could trust in every situation.”

We are at Press Pass Sports wish O’Rourke the best of luck.

Editor’s Note

Please listen for Tommy Tee‘s weekly recap of Amarillo Wranglers hockey on the “Drive at Five” with Lance Lahnert every Thursday afternoon at 5 p.m. exclusively on 710-AM KGNC. Scheduled to appear on this weeks program are the Wranglers representatives that will be participating in the NAHL Top Prospects Hockey tournament in Blaine, Minn.