The Shreveport Mudbugs (21-17-7) couldn’t solve their scoring woes as they fell to the Odessa Jackalopes, 2-1 Friday night at Georges Pond in Hirsch Coliseum.
The Mudbugs got off to another rough start to the game as Odessa scored goals at 13:59 from Joseph Winkelmann and 15:41 from Jan Blasko to give the Jacks the early 2-0 lead. The Jacks led in SOG, 16-11 after one period of play.
Shreveport stormed back in the 2nd period when Warren Natyshak threw an innocent wrister that found its way into the net at 2:45 for his sixth goal of the year making it a 2-1 Jacks lead. Carson Nichols and Tim Khokhlachev earned the assists. It was the only goal of the middle period as the Bugs out-shot the Jacks 15-4 in the stanza.
The Mudbugs put a late push in the 3rd period, but Jacks goalie Alex Camarre was stellar in net making 38 saves to stifle Shreveport all game long. The Bugs dropped their first regulation home loss to Odessa this season.
Leo Chuard made 28 saves in a losing effort.
The Bugs went 0 for 4 on the powerplay which really came back to bite them at the end of the night.
The Mudbugs failed to lengthen their lead over the Brahmas in the race for second place in the South Division who lost 5-1 to Amarillo earlier in the night.
The Bugs and Jacks conclude their two-game series tomorrow night at Georges Pond in Hirsch Coliseum. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:11 p.m.