Sports stats



NAHL Amarillo Wranglers

Grit Defeat Wranglers 4-3 in a Shootout

October 26, 2024 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Amarillo Wranglers News Release


Amarillo, TX - The Colorado Grit defeated the Amarillo Wranglers 4-3 in a shootout on Friday night at the Budweiser Bull Pen in Amarillo's home opener.

Wranglers fans had waited a long time to see their team play in downtown Amarillo after the club opened the season with 11 games on the road, going 7-3-0-1 in that stretch. Amarillo hosted Colorado who they swept in a two game series earlier in September at Greely Ice Haus. Amarillo started goaltender Charlie Zolin between the pipes, while Colorado went with goaltender Jack Erickson.

With the crowd roaring to start the game, the Wranglers came out flying scoring the first goal of the evening just 2:14 into the opening period. Grayson Gerhard went top shelf on Erickson for his third goal of the season from Corson Maguire and Andrew Morton to give Amarillo an early 1-0 lead. Amarillo continued to pound shots at Erickson but he did not surrender another goal for the rest of the period. Each team had an opportunity on the power play in the first, but both penalty kill units got the job done. After one period of play, the shot count favored the Wranglers 14-9.

Colorado flipped the script in the second period, as it was the Grit who were buzzing in the second frame. On a power play midway through the period, William Johnson punched in a puck at the top of the blue paint to tie the game up at 1-1. Like Erickson in the first period, Zolin had to make some acrobatic stops to fend off Colorado who were playing with momentum in the second period. The Grit outshot the Wranglers 16-5 in the second period.

The Wranglers got their lead back in the third period when Andrew Morton deflected a long shot from Ashton Breyer by Erickson for his third goal of the season 4:15 into the period. Colorado responded exactly a minute later when Landon West snuck a bouncing puck by Zolin to tie the game again at 2-2. Both sides traded chances until the Wranglers broke through and scored again to take the lead for the third time. With 2:45 left in regulation Will Welburn ripped a slapshot past Erickson for his first NAHL goal to put the Wranglers up 3-2. It looked like the Wranglers were on their way to victory, until a late penalty gave Colorado an advantage in the final two minutes. The Grit pulled Erickson to make it a 6 on 4 and scored with 1:12 left in regulation to tie the game. Landon West cashed in on a rebound for his second of the game to send the contest to overtime. Amarillo outshot Colorado 37-36 through regulation.

Overtime proved to not be enough, and a shootout was necessary. Only one goal was scored through three rounds and it belonged to Colorado's Chris Graves. With the 4-3 shootout victory Colorado improved to 4-5-2-1. Despite the loss, the Wranglers picked up a standing point falling to 7-3-0-2. Andrew Morton had a three point night scoring one goal and two assists. Charlie Zolin stopped 36/39 through regulation and overtime.

The Wranglers will be back at the Bull Pen to take on the Grit in the second game of the set at 7:14 PM CDT. You can get your tickets at panhandletickets.com or tune in on NATV.

Check out the Amarillo Wranglers Statistics

• Discuss this story on the North American Hockey League message board...

North American Hockey League Stories from October 26, 2024


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Amarillo Wranglers Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central