Friday: El Paso Rhinos 0 @ New Mexico Ice Wolves 2 – Rhinos hit the road this weekend to Albuquerque for the first game of the weekend against the New Mexico Ice Wolves!
First period is a bit quiet with only a couple penalties handed out, but the star of the period is the goaltenders. Both sides hold firm in their defenses, putting us scoreless at the end of the first.
Returning to the ice after a quick break the Ice Wolves change their pace to be more aggressive. This new strategy works in their favor, but the Rhinos fight back and we get hooking, high sticking, and roughing penalties handed out like candy. The battle now started in earnest it would be the Ice Wolves who make the first move as they take back-to-back goals in the third period with Jeremy Sprung and Brock Fairbanks each taking a point. At the end of the second period New Mexico leads 2-0 over El Paso.
Unfortunately for the Rhinos, there would be no more scoring for either team, meaning the game would end with the Ice Wolves up 2-0 as they take game #1.
Saturday: El Paso Rhinos 3 @ New Mexico Ice Wolves 2 – Rhinos are out for revenge after last night’s road defeat and the Ice Wolves aim for a clean sweep! We’ll see whose conviction holds firmer as we begin the second game of the weekend here in Albuquerque!
In a repeat of last nights’ events the first period is all battles for control with no scoring in sight; sending us in to the second period with no points on either side.
Ice Wolves make a fatal mistake early in the second and give up a power play opportunity where Kamden Kaiser quickly capitalizes to take the first goal of the night at just under six minutes in to the period. Ice Wolves bring it right back a few minutes later as Anton Malyshev brings it back to a tie. At the end of the second period we’re tied up at 1-1.
The second period may have ended, but a holdover powerplay timer still has to play out and Ian Kastamo takes the opportunity to take back the lead for the Rhinos right out of the gate. In similar fashion to last period the Ice Wolves’ Brock Fairbanks manages to tie up the game once more, this time at 2-2. The clock ran down slowly as both teams tried their best for an advantage, but with no more scoring in regulation time we’d be sent into overtime where the Rhinos’ Alexander Stephen would take the game-winning point off a shorthanded man disadvantage.
That’d be it for Game #2 and the series is split down the middle as the Rhinos take this one with a 3-2 win.
