The Rhinos sealed an icy deal this weekend with a shutout of the Phoenix Knights on Sunday afternoon.

After a slow offensive start, Philip Pugliese put the Rhinos on the board just under the four-minute mark of the first. Ty Erramouspe increased the Rhinos’ lead to two when he scored in the last two seconds of the period.

Skating into the second period, the Rhinos set the tone for the game as Rhinos, Tanner Mckenchnie, with Quincy Childress on the assist, scored less than three minutes into the second. Laukaitis and Johanson followed up with their own goals allowing the Rhinos to take a 5-0 lead after forty minutes. Despite 23 shots through two periods, the Knights were still dead on the scoring drive.

El Paso looked to joust the Knights out the final period of the game as Pugliese struck again with two consecutive goals. With the help of Evan Camba and Drake Cartwright, Laukaitis netted his second of the game before Pugliese sealed his hat trick with his third goal. Evan Camba scored the Rhinos’ final goal of the game, putting El Paso in double digits on the scoreboard. Despite 64 penalty minutes on 16 penalties, the Rhino penalty kill unit, with Edelkoort at the helm, remained perfect. With 34 saves, the El Paso netminder earned his third shutout of the season.

Join the Rhinos for their Military Appreciation series when they take on the Valencia Flyers on December 9-11 in the Sun City. Also, remember to bring an unwrapped toy for Toys for Tots to receive a free ticket to a following game.

-Yazmen McCaskill