The Shreveport Mudbugs grabbed three of a possible four points in last weekend’s home weekend stand against the Lone Star Brahmas. The Mudbugs are now knotted with the New Mexico Ice Wolves in third place with a game in hand over them.
The playoffs landscape is starting to be more in view. Corpus Christi Ice Rays became the first team eliminated from the playoffs. El Paso Rhinos could be eliminated in the upcoming weekend. The top four also are starting to separate from the rest of the pack. Tied for fifth place, Odessa Jackalopes and Amarillo Wranglers, are eight points back of the coveted fourth spot. This means the Mudbugs are safe in playoff territory for at least two weeks.
The Mudbugs will be traveling to last place Corpus Christi this coming weekend and although eliminated from the playoffs, Coach Jason “Soupy” Campbell sees indifference in how they will approach the Ice Rays. “It’s no different for me and should be no different for our guys,” Campbell said. “Corpus (Christi) to me, I like this team and I’ve always liked this team this year. We’ve had success against them, but I also feel that we’ve played the right way each time too. I think they transition well. I think they play fast and they’ve got guys that can score goals. I know their coaching is good. They are a good team. They play hard in their building and have been drawing good crowds so they can feed off them as well. We’re always prepared for a big battle when we go there and this weekend is no different.”
Here is a recap of the two games from last weekend
Mudbugs 2, Lone Star 1 OT
Mudbugs received an early power play opportunity but Lone Star killed the chance. Shreveport struck first with a goal from Eric Vitale with some help from Drake Morse. The two teams traded power-play chances for the remainder of the first period but no other goals. Shreveport held on to the 1-0 lead after one period.
A quiet first half of the second period turned into a boisterous second ten minutes. Logan Heroux was sent first to the sin bin for a holding call. The Mudbugs held off the power play. The Brahmas Charlie Masek was called for cros-checking. No score by the Mudbugs on the power play. Less than a minute at being full strength, the Brahmas’ Ray Murakami was sent to the penalty box for tripping. Lone Star survived once again. A defensive second period saw Shreveport outshoot Lone Star 8-6. The score remained in Shreveport’s favor 1-0.
Lone Star received a power play on a holding call on Logan Gotinsky. Shreveport killed the power play to maintain its lead. After trading power plays again, neither team could score. Kason Muscutt was called for a check from behind which turned into a gross misconduct and gave a major penalty for the remaining three and a half minute. power play. Lone Star pulled their goalie William Gramme for a man advantage with 1:53 remaining. At 1:09 left, Ray Murakami netted the game-tying goal. Shreveport and Lone Star have headed to overtime once again for the third time in the last four meetings.
In overtime, Lone Star’s Collin Kleiser received a penalty a little over a minute in the extra period giving Shreveport the extra man. Ryan Burke scored the winning goal 35 seconds later with assists from Gotinsky and Alex Park.
Lone Star outshot the Mudbugs 27 to 22. Simon Bucheler had 26 saves in the win.
Lone Star 1, Mudbugs 0 SOL
The archrivalry and fourth consecutive meeting boiled to the top as an aggressive final game of the series. Lone Star received the first power play as Matthew Danzinger was called for holding. Shreveport’s defense held and killed the power play. The first altercation broke out between Mudbug Nick Levasseur and Brahma Jakob Karpa. Levasseur was charged with fighting and a gross misconduct as aggressor. Karpa was given a minor penalty for the penalty. Neither team scored in the first period.
Not long into the second period, Lone Star’s Nate Mann and Shreveport’s Liam Fleet had a few choice words among each other. Both received major penalties for fighting. Shreveport received three more power plays but no goals were scored. The Mudbugs’ last power play was cut short with as Logan Heroux was called for checking from behind 40 seconds into the last power play. Four on four yieled no goals and Shreveport survived their short man disadvantage. The two were scoreless after two periods.
The final period saw Shreveport receive an early power play but still no goal. One more four on four occurred as Lone Star’s Bauer Smith and Shreveport’s Sutton Murray were sent to the penalty box for roughing. Another extra period was needed to settle the scoreless regulation tie.
Overtime saw Lone Star took three shots and Shreveport two, but no goals and send the game to a shootout.
Lone Star won the shoot out 2-0 from goals from Ryan Comishock and Dhillon Wilde to give the Brahmas the win.
First Line
- Logan Heroux, D, 4 shots, 0 +\-
- Alex Park, D, 1 assist, 2 shots, +1
- Ryan Burke, F, 1 goal, 5 shots, 0 +\-
- Eric Vitale, F, 1 goal, 5 shots, +1
- Simon Bucheler, 1-0-0-0, 26 saves, .963 Save %
Second Line
- Tristan Zarsky, D, 1 shot, 0 +\-
- Matthew Danzinger, D, 1 shot 0 +\-
- Logan Gotinsky, F, 1 assist, 6 shots, 0 +\-
- Drake Morse, F, 1 assist, 7 shots, +1
South Division
Team……………..W-L-OTL-SOL………….PTS
Oklahoma………..36-8-0-1……………..73
Lone Star…………30-11-2-4……………66
New Mexico………27-17-2-1……………57
Shreveport……….25-14-2-5……………57
Odessa ………….23-19-1-2……………49
Amarillo………….23-19-2-1……………49
El Paso…………..13-28-3-1……………30
z-Corpus Christi…10-30-6-0……………26
z-eliminated
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