Friday: El Paso Rhinos 4 @ Oklahoma Warriors 2 – Rhinos are off to Oklahoma this weekend to face off against the Warriors for a two-game series! Warriors take an aggressive stance right out of the gates and are immediately punished for it, dropping a roughing penalty early on allowing the Rhinos a momentum swing in our favor. This small mistake would be corrected and seven minutes in to the first period the Warriors manage to bring it bac and take the first goal of the day with Ben Osiashvili sending the puck past Rhino defense. Right after restart the Warriors take yet another penalty, giving the Rhinos another opportunity where Raphael Laviolette ties up the score off a powerplay. At the end of the first period we’re tied at 1-1.
Second period saw more shots on goal by both teams, but only one goal from the warriors’ Tyler Wilmoth to steal back the lead and end the period at 2-1, Rhinos trailing behind.
After one last break we return to the ice after reassessing the strategy. Rhinos players are ready to fight and the puck drops on the third period. Aidan Bergner is first on the play, taking a goal at the 16:33 mark, signaling the rest of the team to begin the attack. Jacob Solano follows right behind at the 16:13 mark for yet another goal, putting us in the lead 3-2. This wouldn’t be the end of the Rhino counterattack as Austin Michaud brings us yet another goal just a minute later to double our lead over the Warriors.
By third period’s end the Rhinos would be up 4-2, taking Game #1 here on Oklahoma ice.
Warriors lead Shots on Goal tonight with 24 to Rhino 20, Goaltender Luke Brassil saving 22.
Scoring Info
Saturday: El Paso Rhinos 1 @ Oklahoma Warriors 6 – Warriors & Rhinos are back on the ice tonight after last night’s home team upset for the start of Game #2! First period is fraught with fights, players taking penalties on both sides of the aisle. The animosity could be felt in the air with the amount of fights both teams were getting in to, but eventually someone would have to come up on top. With 4:01 left in the first period Olivier Laverdiere took first point for the Warriors, setting them up with a 1-0 lead as we move in to intermission.
Second period is more of the same aggression, but with less actual fights. Denny Oh scores a second goal for the Warriors, followed by Joey Derosa late in the period for a 3-0 lead over the Rhinos. With one more intermission to go the Warriors hold on to a comfortable lead.
Third period is underway and Laverdiere took his second goal of the night, putting Oklahoma up 4-0 as the Rhinos have still yet to score, but unfortunately it would continue on to a 5-0 lead as Luke Vanderroest bags himself one more goal for the team. Just when it looked like the Warriors would walk away with a complete shutout, they cede the man advantage to the Rhinos, giving us a powerplay opportunity that doesn’t go to waste. Bergner uses the opening he’s given and takes a goal with just over six minutes to go in regulation time. Unfortunately this only led to yet another fight after the reset and with both teams running out of strength the final nail in the coffin would come from Adam Bauer to end the game at 6-1, Warriors leading.
Rhinos lead the Shots on Goal tonight with 27 to Oklahoma’s 26.
Logan Hughes saves 19/24, playing the majority of the game, while Luke Brassil saves 1/2.
