It wasn’t enough to play 120 minutes of hockey for the first weekend of the first round of the playoffs. No, the two teams had to play over 204 minutes over the weekend. Shreveport played the longest game in Mudbug history on Friday night with a four-overtime game that resulted in a 2-1 overtime loss. The Mudbugs turned it around on Saturday night as they still needed an extra period to get the 3-2 win. The Mudbugs had escaped from NYTEX Center and split a game piece.
Lone Star 2, Mudbugs 1 (4 OT)
Friday night saw no scoring in the first period but midway through the second period. Hayden Nichol scored on a power play to give Shreveport the 1-0 lead. Eric Vitale and Liam Fleet were credited with the assist. The celebration was not long as Lone Star popped the net less than two minutes later to tie the game at 1-1. Neither team could get an edge in the third with regulation expiring still knotted at 1.
Lone Star struggled with penalties in the first overtime in the last five minutes. The first power play was from with a two-minute minor for hooking by Collin Kleiser. The Brahmas survived the power play. Barely back to overtime full strength another Lone Star minor penalty was called on Jacob Karpa for slashing. This would leave Lone Star shorthanded for the remainder of the overtime. A third penalty was called on the Brahmas with 43 seconds remaining in the overtime on a slashing call by Ryan Prewitt. Despite Williams Graham being pelted 11-2 in the overtime, Lone Star maintained to go to the second overtime.
The second overtime saw Bucheler have to defend against two power play opportunities but overcame. Shreveport had a slight edge shooting Lone Star 8-7.
Third overtime brought some hard nose overtime hockey as Shreveport had no power plays but Shreveport took the shot advantage 8-7 again.
Fourth overtime saw the Mudbugs give a power play behind an Aiden Dixon holding call a little three minutes into the overtime. Bucheler and the Shreveport boys survived the power play. With 13:18 remaining in the fourth overtime, Antti Autere scored to end the marathon game.
The official end time of the game was 1:16 AM. The game lasted 5 hours and 47 minutes.
Simon Bucheler had 43 saves in the game for the Mudbugs. Shreveport was 1 for 9 on power plays.
Mudbugs 3, Lone Star 2 OT
With less than 18 hours until the puck drop in the crucial Game 2 of the playoff series, Coach Jason “Soupy” Campbell focuses on his players getting enough “rest, refueling, and rehydrating” and getting the body and minds ready as soon as possible. Nikola Goich would be between the pipes for Game 2.
The first period saw several power play opportunities with Shreveport getting three and Lone Star with two. No goals were scored though for either.
A scoring frenzy broke out in the final four minutes of the second period. Garrett Steele with the help of Logan Gotinsky and Tristan Zarsky with a little more than three minutes remaining. The Brahmas tied the game with about a minute and a half remaining to tie. Just 33 seconds later, Niklas Miller scored to give the Mudbugs the 2-1 lead. Jake Mack and Eric Vitale were credited with the assist.
The third period saw the Mudbugs give up an early power play but killed it to preserve its lead. With almost four minutes remaining in regulation, Ivan Zadvernyuk netted the game-tying goal. The two teams would head to the fifth overtime for the weekend.
Looking to head into yet another overtime, Jaden Goldie found an opening and scored the game-winning goal with help from Tristan Zarsky to tie the series at 1-1.
Goich had 39 saves for the win.
The Mudbugs will return home this weekend for Games 3 and 4 of the series. A sweep by either team will wrap up the series. Another split and they will travel back to Lone Star for a decisive Game 5. The puck drops at 7:11 on Friday and Saturday nights at George’s Pond.
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