Wrangler Roundup: Amarillo drops two straight heading into final weekend of homestand

Shawn Moran, Amarillo Globe-News
·3 min read
Wranglers’ Kristaps Skrastins (15) moves the puck during a North American Hockey League game Jan. 14 against the New Mexico Ice Wolves. He is currently seventh in the NAHL in points (41) and tied for fourth in goals (20) in 32 games played.
Wranglers’ Kristaps Skrastins (15) moves the puck during a North American Hockey League game Jan. 14 against the New Mexico Ice Wolves. He is currently seventh in the NAHL in points (41) and tied for fourth in goals (20) in 32 games played.

Another weekend of action on the ice brings along another opportunity for the Amarillo Wranglers to get their season back on track after seven losses in their last eight games.

The Wranglers (19-12-2) were swept in their back-to-back against the New Mexico Ice Wolves at home last weekend and sit in fourth-place of the NAHL's eight-team South Division.

They get a chance to change their momentum, welcoming the Lone Star Brahmas for a pair of games set for 11 a.m. Thursday and 7:05 p.m. Friday.

Amarillo has hit a rough patch over the past month in large part due to several injuries, COVID protocols and roster movement that included the impressive Jakob Peterson leaving to play collegiately for Northern Michigan.

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They were outscored 7-2 in last weekend's games and head into their back-to-back contests hoping for improvements on the attack this week against the Brahmas.

Latvian forward Kristaps Skrastins is currently seventh in the NAHL in points (41) and tied for fourth in goals (20) in 32 games played. The University of New Hampshire commit notched an assist to fellow Latvian forward Glebs Prohorenkovs (12 goals, 19 assists) for Amarillo's only goal last Saturday night.

On Friday night, Dominic Schimizzi netted his ninth goal of the season on an assist from Logan Cleary (10) and Jayden Price (2).

Amarillo made a pair of roster moves last weekend that included a trade with the Corpus Christi IceRays for defenseman Jayden Jensen (one goal, six assists) in exchange for future NAHL assets and a trade with the Northeast Generals for forward CJ Zezima (two goals, 11 assists) in exchange for a 2022 sixth-round draft pick.

The Wranglers will face a tough challenge against second-place Lone Star (18-9-6) — which has won eight of its last 10 games.

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Nicholas Niemo leads the Brahmas in points (38), goals (17) and assists (21). The NCAA Division I commit to Bentley University and Vermont native has taken 113 shots this season and will need to be a main focal point for the Wrangler defensemen. Amarillo will also have to handle the skills of Miami (Ohio) University commit Artur Toransky (35 points).

Lone Star has used a healthy mixture of rookie Arthur Smith (7-1-3, 2.33 GAA) and Jan Skorpik (8-2-2, 2.39 GAA) between the pipes this season. This means Amarillo could see both in their games.

WRANGLERS SEASON LEADERS

SKATER

• Points: Kristaps Skrastins 41; Glebs Prohorenkovs 31; Dominic Schimizzi 20

• Goals: Kristaps Skrastins 20; Glebs Prohorenkovs 12; Dominic Schimizzi 9

• Assists: Kristaps Skrastins 21; Glebs Prohorenkovs 19; Jakob Peterson 15

• Penalty Minutes: Drayton Todoroff 80; Nikolas Campbell 79; Dominic Schimizzi 62

• +/-: Anthony Vidrick 9; Jakob Peterson 8; Oliver Bezick, Kristaps Skrastins 7

GOALIE

• GAA: Max Gutjahr 2.33

• Wins: Max Gutjahr 17

• Saves (Save %): Max Gutjahr 781 (0.923)

• Shutouts: Max Gutjahr 2

Looking back on the Wranglers’ last week

JAN. 14

NEW MEXICO ICE WOLVES 4, WRANGLERS 1

Scoring: (1P 4:24, NM): Brandon Holt (6) – assisted by Wilmer Svensson (10), Joe Prouty (10). (2P 10:33, NM): William Howard (14) – assisted by Dillan Bentley (17), Brandon Holt (13). (2P 15:59, NM): Dillan Bentley (17) – assisted by William Howard (10), Brandon Holt (14). (2P 17:33, NM) Wilmer Svensson (8) – assisted by Mitchell Becker (13), Tony Leahy (6). (2P 18:42, AMA): Dominic Schimizzi (9) – assisted by Logan Cleary (10), Jayden Price (2).

JAN. 15

NEW MEXICO ICE WOLVES 3, WRANGLERS 1

Scoring: (2P 15:49, NM): Evan Carroll (4) – assisted by Mitchell Becker (14), Gustav Blom (20). (2P 17:17, AMA): Glebs Prohorenkovs (12) – assisted by Kristaps Skrastins (21). (3P 4:16, NM): Nicloas Haviar (5) – unassisted. (3P 5:18, NM): Blayde Pogreba (3) – assisted by Brandon Holt (15).

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Wranglers drop two straight heading into final weekend of homestand