The Shreveport Mudbugs (7-6) couldn’t capitalize on their scoring chances as they fell to the Odessa Jackalopes, 2-1 Friday night at Ector County Coliseum.
Odessa got on the board just 16 seconds into the game when Carl Skarstrom deflected a puck into the net giving the Jacks an early 1-0 lead. Both teams got good scoring chances as the Jacks led in SOG, 12-11 after one period of play.
Ethan Harrison stayed hot as he took a brilliant pass from C.J. McGee and went glove side on the goalie to score his sixth goal on a breakaway just 55 seconds into the 2nd period tying the game up at 1. McGee and Gueorgui Feduolov grabbed the assists on the game-tying goal. Odessa came right back at 1:49 on a busted play when Zach Heintz was able to slip in a rebound to give the Jacks the lead back at 2-1. SOG were tied at 21 after two periods of play.
Shreveport had their chances in the third period, but got out-shot 11-7 in the final frame. The Mudbugs went 0 for 7 on the powerplay which proved to be the biggest hurdle to overcome in the contest.
The Jacks beat the Bugs, 2-1 and new goalie Kade Phipps was huge making 28 saves to grab his first win in his first game in Odessa.
Leo Chuard made 30 saves in a tough luck loss.
The Mudbugs and Jacks conclude their two-game set tomorrow night. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:11pm from Ector County Coliseum.