Hasselgren Scores Twice, Warriors Fall to Ice Wolves 6-3

Apr 15, 2023

ALBUQUERQUE, NM – Malte Hasselgren tied a back-and-forth contest twice but the Oklahoma Warriors fell by a 6-3 final as the New Mexico Ice Wolves kept their playoff hopes alive Friday from Outpost Ice Arenas.

The Ice Wolves got on the board early, scoring 3:45 into the opening frame on the powerplay. The rest of the penalty-filled frame saw seven calls on New Mexico, and six on Oklahoma but no more goals were scored.

The Warriors capitalized on an Ice Wolves giveaway in offensive ice to tie the game five minutes into the middle frame. Owen Baumgartner played the puck up ice for William Lawson-Body and Malte Hasselgren on a 2-on-1. Lawson-Body gave to Hasslegren, who rifled in his 18th of the season from the top of the far-side circle to knot the score 1-1. Just two minutes and five seconds later, Oklahoma took control off a broken play. After many on the ice lost track of the puck that flipped up in the air, Mikko Liukkonen tracked it and set up Joey DelGreco for a backdoor tip-in to make a 2-1 score. Before the end of the frame, New Mexico scored another powerplay goal to tie the game at 2’s and that score held into the intermission. 

For the second time in the game, New Mexico took a lead, this time 3-2, 5:11 into the final regulation frame. Once more, Hasselgren had an answer for Oklahoma and made it 3-3 exactly five minutes later. With a stick lift behind the net, Hasselgren stole the puck and made a cut out front to stuff the puck on the near side for his second of the game. The Ice Wolves scored the next three goal, with the final into an empty net, to keep their playoff hopes alive, and win 6-3.

The Oklahoma Warriors and New Mexico Ice Wolves will face-off for the final game of the 2022-23 regular season Saturday, April 15, at 6:30 MDT from the Outpost Ice Arenas. With the win, New Mexico kept its playoff hopes alive, going into the final day of the regular season one point behind the Amarillo Wranglers for the final spot in the South Division.