Bugs Fall Short as Regular Season Concludes

Apr 7, 2018

The Shreveport Mudbugs (41-12-3-4) fell behind early, but put 47 shots on goal, but couldn’t get enough past the Odessa Jackalopes’ netminder dropping a 5-2 decision in the season finale Saturdaynight in Ector County Coliseum.
Odessa scored the game’s first goal at 10:08 of the opening period when Matthew Brown shot in his 16th goal of the season assisted by Nick McKeeby. Jacks led 1-0 after one period of play.
Odessa exploded in the 2nd period and scored three times, two of them shorthanded in a span of 3:22 to grab a rapid 4-0 edge over Shreveport. The scoring barrage prompted HC Karlis Zirnis to pull Gustavs Grigals out of the game and put Jaxon Castor in net off the bench. Despite trailing by such a margin, the Mudbugs led in SOG, 28-14.
The Mudbugs got on the board at 10:19 of the 3rd period when Cameron Cook banged in a juicy rebound for his 22nd goal of the season making it a 4-1 contest. Brendon Gysbers got the only assist on the PP goal. Shreveport got another man advantage opportunity and pulled their goalie for a 6 on 4 chance, but Dylan Johnson was able to drive home an SH EN goal at 16:58 to make it a 5-1 contest. Cook tallied in his second goal of the goal at 19:09, but Shreveport would drop their third straight, 5-2 to the Jacks.
The Mudbugs go into the playoffs with their first three-game losing streak of the season and first sweep suffered on the road all year.

The Mudbugs will host the Corpus Christi Ice Rays for Game 1 of the 1st round of the NAHL playoffs. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:11pm in Georges Pond at Hirsch Coliseum. ​