The Wranglers are returning to River City this weekend to once again face the Jaguars. The last meeting was terribly disappointing for the Wranglers, losing 10-2. We hope that will not happen again. It is unsure if the new defensemen (Marchand, Miller, and Harzelak) acquired by trades are going to be there to help. Heard that they're MIA.The Jaguars are reeling from a sweep by the Coeur d'Alene Lakers last weekend. Friday night's game the Lakers handed the Jaguars a big thumpin' beating them by 7 goals to zip! Not sure the Jaguars knew what hit them when the Lakers came to River City. Saturday's night was much closer, the Lakers beating the Jaguars 7-6 in overtime. The Jaguars were ahead by 2 goals, but in the last 2 minutes of 3rd period the Lakers scored 2 goals in less than a minute to tie it up. Then less than 30 seconds into OT the Lakers sealed the win to sweep the Jaguars for the weekend.
So what do the Wranglers need to do? The same thing we've been pushing all along, and that is, keep the puck in the Jaguars zone by aggressive fore-checking; crisp, precise passes that spread the defense all through the zone which will use the points; rotate someone in front of the Jags goalie to keep the pressure up; shoot and score. The Wrangler defense will need to step it up by shutting the back door; the forwards will have to come back to assist the "D"; and, the "D" will have to put a body on any Jag player that comes into the Wrangler zone. Can the Wranglers do it? I and many other Wrangler fans hope so.
What can we expect? Well, there's still some attitude issues within the Wrangler squad so some players will be sitting out the next game or two. Unsure about Webster playing. Defenseman NikVaitaitas will be sitting out because of penalty antics from last weekend. Hopefully goalie Blanton can once again "stand on his head" to keep the puck out of the Wranglers net. The Jags know how to keep the pressure on, they made 74 shots on the Lakers over two games, and a whopping 62 shots in one game on the Wranglers. Nighbert, Niklas, Abudakar, (forwards) and Mayer (defense) all have over 10 points (goals and assists) in the last 11 games. The Jags have got seven players that have over 5 points. So, the Jaguars know how to put the puck in the net. They're a small, fast, and scoring team.
If the Wranglers can play like they have recently against Eugene, and improve over the past week they might just have a chance to pull out one win or maybe even two, but it will be very, very tough. So c'mon Wranglers let's play hockey and put the puck in the net. Predictions? hopeful - Friday: Wranglers 2, Jaguars 2; Saturday: Wranglers 4, Jaguars 2. Realistic - Friday: Wranglers 2, Jaguars 4; Saturday: Wranglers 4, Jaguars 4. Yee haw, lets go Wranglers. See you all at the game. Keep the comments coming!
