The Shreveport Mudbugs (24-20-9) struggled on the powerplay once again and it helped doom them in a 2-1 defeat by the Topeka Pilots in OT Friday night at Georges Pond in Hirsch Coliseum.
Topeka opened up the scoring in the 1st period when Matthew Francois was able to shovel home a tally at 9:30 to give the Pilots the early 1-0 lead. Despite not scoring in the opening period, the Bugs led in SOG, 14-10.
The Bugs evened the score at 9:18 of the 2nd period when C.J. McGee threw it at the net and Ethan Harrison popped in the rebound in front for his team-leading 19th goal of the year making it a 1-1 game. Jack Jaunich got the secondary helper on the goal. Leo Chuard was strong in net making a few tough saves through traffic to keep it a 1-1 contest as Topeka out-shot Shreveport, 14-8 in the middle frame.
The game stayed tied 1-1 in the third period after both goalies made big saves and both team squandered numerous powerplay chances. Topeka went 0 for 5 while Shreveport was 0 for 4 on the man advantage.
The game went into OT where Austin McCarthy powered in the game-winning tally just 57 seconds in to lift the Pilots to a 2-1 victory over the Bugs.
Shreveport earns a point for their efforts and now trails Lone Star by four points in the race for 2nd place in the South Division.
The Mudbugs and Pilots will conclude their two-game series tomorrow night at Georges Pond in Hirsch Coliseum. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:11 p.m.