The Mudbugs and their fans have been on a rollercoaster ride lately. The Bugs started an 8-game winning streak in December and through the holiday break. Corpus Christi ended that streak and spun them into a 3-game slide to fourth place. Shreveport snapped that streak on the last game of the 12-game homestand with first-place Lone Star Brahmas. The winning streak now stands at 3 games after a sweep of the then-second-place El Paso Rhinos. The reason they are the “then” second-place team is now Shreveport sits in that position after the sweep of the Rhino.
The Mudbugs are currently in second place in the South Division with one point over the Amarillo Wrangler and two points over fourth-place El Paso Rhinos. The Lone Star Brahmas hold a comfortable 9-point lead at 64 points in first place.
Shreveport will head further west to Albuquerque and take on the New Mexico Ice Wolves who are trying to get into that coveted top four.
Mudbugs 1, El Paso 0
Sometimes you need just that one goal to take the win. The Mudbugs did that on Friday night.
El Paso gave the first power play opportunity in the first three minutes and showed the Mudbugs were looking for a physical game as Bradley Walker was called for roughing. The Rhinos survived being one man down. Shreveport returned the favor as Liam Fleet was sent to the penalty box for boarding. The Mudbugs killed the power play opportunity. Shreveport would head into the second period with Lucas Deeb in the sin bin for cross-checking. The two teams were scoreless at the end of the first period.
Although Shreveport came into the period down a man, 36 seconds into the second period, Ryan Burke scored the short-handed goal. Just 12 seconds back at full strength, the Mudbugs were sent back to the penalty box as Maxim Sushchynski was charged with tripping. Shreveport had the chance to widen their lead with a power play, but the Rhinos’ defense prevailed. El Paso’s Kyle Arias and Mudbug Logan. Both teams will skate into the final period with 4-on-4 play. Shreveport remained up 1-0 after two periods
Shreveport allowed another power play with about 15 minutes remaining as Andrew Seminara. The power play didn’t last long as Alexandre Pellerin was given a double minor for high sticking. Both teams survived the power plays and Shreveport held on for the 1-0 win
Eliot Seguin-Lescarbeau recorded the shutout win and had 19 saves for the night
Mudbugs 3, El Paso 2 (Shoot Out)
The two teams closed the series high on emotion as multiple fighting penalties flew throughout the night. The game had to go to a shootout to decide a winner
Hayden Nichol popped the net first for the Mudbugs in the first five minutes with assists from Ryan Burke and Ryan Austin. The refs sent El Paso’s Jack Linton to the penalty box for a slashing. The Rhinos defense held off another goal. Shreveport struck again with about 5 minutes remaining from a shot by Brayden Cook and assisted by Burks and logan Heroux. Shreveport had the 2-0 lead before the gloves dropped as Hayden Nichol and Rhino Frank Tafleski had a few choice words and garnered a 5 and 10-minute penalty each. Shreveport carried the 2-0 lead into the second period
The heat on the ice continued as Mudbug Alex Park and Rhino Kyle Arias had another spirited conversation which led to another 5 and 10-minute penalty. Neither player would be available until the third period. Shreveport got caught with too many men on the ice and gave a fruitless power play for the Rhinos. Within a minute of being at full strength, Jonah Jasser was sent to the sin bin on elbowing. The power play paid off this time for the Rhinos as Medrick Bolduc cut the lead to 2-1. The celebration turned into the third fight of the night. El Paso’s Bradley Walker was given a 5-minute and game misconduct. The penalty and ejection didn’t slow down the Rhino as Frank Tafleski evened the score with a short-handed goal just 26 seconds later. El Paso had tied the game 2-2 in the final minute of the second period.
Shreveport had an opportunity to take the lead midway in the third period as Jakub Jerman was called for high sticking. El Paso’s defense held and didn’t allow a goal. Shreveport had to finish out the third period a man down as they were penalized with goalkeeper interference. Shreveport survived to send the game into overtime at 2-2.
The Rhinos outshot Shreveport 4-3 in overtime but the score remained the same.
Mudbug Kyan Haldenby was the only score in the shoot-out to give Shreveport the sweep over El Paso for the weekend.
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