Shreveport Mudbugs Sweep El Paso On The Road

The Shreveport got a spark at home last weekend against the Amarillo Wranglers.  The question was could they continue the fire on ice on the road to El Paso Rhinos.  The answer was a clear yes.  Also, South Division Star of the Week Devon Bobak was going to continue to be a wall in front of the goal.  

Shreveport 4, El Paso 2 (Friday)

The Mudbugs gave the Rhinos the first opportunity for a power-play early with a tripping call on Billy Feczko.  The defense looked to stay solid from the previous week as the power play was killed.  Tyler Behl nailed the back of the net for the first goal of the series.  Austin Brimmer and Garrett Steele were credited with assists.  Behl was sent to the penalty box for delay of game, but the one-man advantage only lasted a minute as Frank Tafelski was given a hooking penalty.  No one scored on the 4-on-4 opportunity.  The Mudbugs penalty end with 15 seconds remaining, but the Rhino would carry forward into the second period.  Shreveport maintained the 1-0 lead heading into the second period. Shreveport outshot El Paso 11-6. 

Shreveport doubled their lead almost midway through the second period as the newly committed University of Alaska-Anchorage commit Davis Goukler scored with assists from Jake Mack and Logan Valkama.   With a little under 7 minutes remaining in the second period, the fireworks began.  Logan Valkama and Jack Anderson tangled.  Valkama was charged with roughing and unsportsmanlike conduct.  Anderson was given a double-minor penalty for roughing. They continued full-strength skating.  Two minutes later, Rhinos’ Bo Cosman was sent to the penalty box for hooking.  The Rhino’s penalty box was overflowing just 13 seconds later with a slashing call giving the Mudbugs a 5 on 3 advantage.  Coach Soupy Campbell drew up a plan on the timeout.  Timofei Khokhlachev scored the power-play goal with 3:30 remaining in the period giving the Mudbugs a 3-0 lead.   Billy Feczko and Austin Brimmer were given assists.  Devon Bobak’s 8-period scoreless streak came to an end with 11 seconds remaining in the second as Donovan McNeil scored to close the gap to 3-1.  More fireworks happened to close the period as Trenten Heyde and Jack Anderson squared off.  Anderson received an ejection.  Heyde received a 10 minute miscellaneous for continuing altercation.  Shreveport carried the 3-1 lead into the final period.  Mudbugs outshot the Rhinos 15-7.

Shreveport had to fend off the momentum of the Rhinos.  Alex Krause was given a penalty for roughing.  El Paso held off the Mudbugs from growing their lead. Shreveport was not so lucky.  Khokhlachev got caught on a high sticking double minor call giving the Rhinos a power play.  Matt Johnson scored for El Paso with 5:55 remaining to close the gap to 3-2.  El Paso scrambled to tie the game.  They pulled goalie Lassi Lehti with 1:45 remaining to get an extra man.  Lehti returned to the goal at 1:15.  Lehti stayed in goal for the next 23 seconds. El Paso pulled him once again with 52 seconds remaining and the extra man.   Austin Brimmer took the empty-net goal with 43 seconds left to lock down the 4-2 win for Shreveport.  Shreveport outshot El Paso 31-24 for the game.  Devon Bobak got his third consecutive win with 22 saves.  

Shreveport 3, El Paso 2 (SO) (Saturday)

The Mudbugs’ attempt at a fourth consecutive win started with a first period full of penalties.  Shreveport got the first opportunity at a power play.  No luck scoring in the power play.  A second opportunity came with about a delay of game penalty. The one-man advantage turned to 4-on-4 just 39 seconds into the power play as Khokhlachev was called with slashing. Both teams made it back to full strength without giving up a goal. The Rhinos would allow the Mudbugs to start the second period with a power-play for 13 seconds as Alex Krause was caught elbowing.  No score after one period.   Shreveport dominated the shooting 19-8 in the first period.

El Paso and Shreveport traded power plays but still no score. Graham Harris of El Paso broke the stalemate midway through the second period.  El Paso gave Shreveport back-to-back power-play opportunities to no avail.  With 17-second remaining,  Garret Steele netted the equalizer aided by Connor Gatto and Austin Brimmer.  Jake Mack was sent to the penalty box with 7 seconds remaining for roughing giving El Paso a power play in the first part of the third period. The two teams were knotted at 1-1.   Shreveport once again took the shot advantage 18-12.  

Shreveport survived the lingering power play from the second period.  They would survive the next.  The referee’s arm raised on Garrett Steele for roughing giving a trip to the penalty box.  El Paso looked to ruin the weekend for Shreveport when Jonathan Horn scored a little over halfway through the power play to get the 2-1 advantage.  Shreveport attempted to close the gap on the power play with under five minutes remaining.  No goal for the Bugs.  With 1:32 remaining, Steele tied the game at 2-2 with assists by Davis Goukler and Austin Brimmer.  The two teams were headed to overtime.  

Shreveport had struggled with the extra time games going 0-4  (0-1 in overtime, 0-3 in shootouts).  The overtime period saw El Paso take two shots to Shreveport’s one shot.  Both goalies stood strong in the net.  Connor Gatto, Billy Feczko, and Lovan Valkama did not score.  Bobak stood against three Rhinos. Austin Brimmer found the back of the net.  El Paso’s Donovan O’Neil goal was no good as the Mudbugs took their first shoot-out win of the season and a second consecutive sweep.  

After the weekend, Shreveport is still in last place in the division but is in grasp of clawing out of the cellar being behind seventh-place Corpus Christi by only 2 points in the standings.  They are currently 8 points out of the fourth-place playoff spot.  That can be achieved as they will be until January 21.   They have one more series at home before Christmas break as they will face the Wichita Warriors on Thursday and Friday this week at 7:11 at George’s Pond.  

First Line

Second Line

South Division Standings