The Shreveport Mudbugs (31-14) rally again in the 3rd period to knock off the Amarillo Bulls, 6-4 Thursday night at George’s Pond in Hirsch Coliseum.
After Ryan Waltman got issued a 5 minute major and a Game Misconduct penalty, it was his roommate Gio Procopio who earned the game’s first goal as he raced up the ice through the neutral zone and went top shelf for a shorthanded tally at 8:27 of the opening giving Shreveport a 1-0 lead. Ryan Dickinson earned the only helper. Amarillo responded as Jordan Venegono scored on a breakaway at 11:53 tying the game, 1-1. Matt Hutton then would score his first goal at home at 14:29 as a Mudbug as he hammered home his 10th goal of the year through the slot giving the Bugs a 2-1 edge. Matt Weber and Procopio earned the assists. Amarillo responded again at 16:21 as Matt Allen stayed with the puck after some saves from Maiszon Balboa and was able to brush in the rebound to tie the game again, 2-2.
Amarillo scored a pair of goals in the 2nd period – 33 seconds apart from Casey Reopke at 3:19 and Devan Tongue at 3:52 giving the Bulls a quick 4-2 advantage. The Bugs couldn’t get much going in the period and were shut down pretty much from Amarillo.
Shreveport came out of the locker room with fire to begin the 3rd period trailing by a pair of goals. It started with Sam Miller powering home his 15th goal of the season through traffic in front of the net at 2:12 pulling the Bugs within one at 4-3. The house came down as 40 seconds later it was Warren Natyshak nailing in the equalizing goal at 2:52 making it a 4-4 contest. It was Natyshak again at 15:03 as Shreveport out of a powerplay slump as he jammed home his second goal of the game along the short side giving the Bugs the lead again at 5-4. Shreveport would put the icing on the cake at Procopio powered home the EN goal for his fifth point of the night making it a 6-4 contest with 58 seconds left.
Maiszon Balboa struggled early, but made key stops in the 3rd period to earn his 16th win of the season.