The Shreveport Mudbugs split on the road against the Odessa Jackalopes. Shreveport put in some extra time each game over the weekend series. Odessa got a shootout win on Friday night and Shreveport snuck an overtime win on Saturday night. The three points gained over the weekend in the standings allowed the Mudbugs to stay in fourth place. Shreveport now is five points ahead of fifth place Amarillo, The Mudbugs will at least hold on to a coveted top-four spot for another week.
Odessa 5, Mudbugs 4 SOL
The Odessa Jackalopes started to give the Mudbugs grief early with a goal from Brendan Finn a little more than two minutes into the first game. A little over a minute later, Tanyon Bajzer scored for Odessa again. In the first four minutes, Mudbugs were down 2-0. Shreveport got their first power play chance when Lemeul Vardy was sent to the sin bin for checking from behind. Jake Mack scored a minute into the power play to close the gap. Garrett Steele and Maksim Sushchynski were credited with the assists. Odessa scored on their second power play opportunity and pushed the lead to 3-1 which held until the end of the period.
Odessa continued to find the back of the net as Dayne Hoyord scored a little under six minutes into the second period. The Mudbugs made the switch at goalie as Simon Bucheler was replaced with Nikola Goich. The Mudbugs started to close the gap. Hayden Nichol scored with a little over four minutes remaining in the second period. Jake Mack and Ryan Austin were given the assists. Odessa ended the second period up 4-2.
Shreveport continued to close the gap into the third period. Logan Gotinsky struck next with help from Niklas Miller and Alex Park. With almost eight minutes left in the game, Jake Mack scored his second goal to finally catch the Jackalopes at 4-4. Hayden Nichol and Nick Marino were given the assists. The two teams stayed knotted until the end of regulation.
Odessa outshot Shreveport in overtime 6-2. Shreveport went down a person in the final 26 seconds with a penalty by Jaden Goldie. Shreveport survived the short power play to head to a shooout.
The lone goal by Ryan Kelly of Odessa was enough to get the shootout win for the Jackalopes.
Shreveport slightly outshot Odessa 44-43. Nikola Goich grabbed 27 saves. Simon Bucheler had 12.
Mudbugs 5, Odessa 4 OT
Goich got the call between the pipes for Saturday night. Just 27 seconds into the game, Shreveport received its first power play opportunity. No goal for the Mudbugs, though. Odessa netted the first goal with a Tanyon Bajzer shot. Bajzer struck again later in the first period to double the lead. Odessa held on for the 2-0 lead until the end of the first period.
A short-handed goal by Shreveport sparked a big second period. Garrett Steele was sent to the penalty box for high sticking. Hayden Nichol popped the short-handed goal to cut the lead. Logan Heroux was given the assist. Quickly, the Mudbugs tied the game behind Logan Gotinsky’s goal with help from Aiden Dixon and Brent Litchard. A little over a minute later, Jake Mack gave Shreveport the 3-2 lead. Heroux and Nichol were credited with the assists. The lead didn’t last long as Odessa’s Dayne Hoyard scored halfway through the second period. The two remained knotted at 3-3 heading into the final period.
Odessa broke the tie in the third with a goal from Ryan Kelly. With 2:23 left in regulation, Ryan Burke gave Shreveport new life with a game-tying goal at 4-4. For the second consecutive night, the two teams would be heading to overtime.
This time, though, Shreveport would close out less than two minutes into overtime with a biscuit in the basket from Nick Marino and assists from Nichols and Alex Park.
Shreveport outshot Odessa 33-22 in the win. Nikola Goich had 18 saves on the night.
Shreveport heads back on the road to third place in New Mexico next weekend. A sweep by the Mudbugs could push them into third place
First Line
Logan Heroux, D, 3 assists, 5 shots +2
Ryan Austin, D, 1 assist, 4 shots, 0 +/-
Hayden Nichol, F, 2 goals, 3 assists, 8 shots, +3
Jake Mack, F, 3 goals, 1 assist, 3 shots, +2
Nikola Goich, G, 1-0-0-1, 45 saves, .918 GAA
Second Line
Alex Park, D, 2 assists, 2 shots, -1
Maksim Sushchynski, D, 1 assist, 1 shot, +1
Logan Gotinsky, F, 2 goals, 7 shots, +1
Nick Marino, F, 1 goal, 1 assist, 4 shots, +1
South Division
Oklahoma……………..31-6-0-1……63
Lone Star………………26-9-1-3……56
New Mexico…………..24-14-2-1….51
Shreveport……………21-12-2-4…..48
Amarillo………………..20-16-2-1….43
Odessa………………..19-17-1-1….40
El Paso………………..11-25-3-0….25
Corpus Christi…………9-26-5-0…..23
This post may contain affiliate links which means I may receive a commission for purchases made through links. I will only recommend products that I have personally used! Learn more on my Private Policy page.