The Shreveport Mudbugs (2-1) gave up a late period goal only to get a bigger goal in OT yet again this time from Dawson Sciarrino to help lift the Bugs to a 3-2 victory over Amarillo and a 2-1 lead in the best of five first round playoff series Thursday night at the Amarillo Civic Center.
The Mudbugs dominated the first period and cashed in at the 11:00 mark when Bulls goalie Andrew Takacs misplayed the puck around the far boards and it was Garrett Steele who slammed in his first of the playoffs into an open net to give Shreveport the early 1-0 lead. Amarillo pushed back later in the opening frame, but Cole Hudson made some nice stops to preserve the 1st period lead. Shreveport led in SOG, 16-10 after one.
Amarillo evened the score at 6:33 of the 2nd period as their PP expired, it was Ryan Coughlin knocking his first goal of the series in front to make it a 1-1 contest. Shreveport responded at 13:58 as Garrett Steele knocked a rebound – far side for his 2nd goal of the night as the Bugs regained the lead, 2-1. Joe Mack and Connor Gatto earned the helpers on Steele’s 2nd tally of the night. Shreveport led in SOG, 27-20 after two.
The Bugs held down Amarillo for most of the third period until the Bulls were on the penalty kill and pulled their goalie for any chance to tie it up in the last minute. It happened to be Harrison Scott who redirected home his second goal of the series to tie the game up, 2-2 with just under 22 seconds left in the contest. Shreveport led in SOG, 35-34 after three periods heading into sudden death OT.
The Bugs would battle through adversity and it was off an neutral zone turnover where Dawson Sciarrino skated in on a breakaway and fore-handed in his first goal of the series at 5:27 to lift Shreveport to a resilient 3-2 victory over Amarillo.
Cole Hudson earned his second straight win in net making 33 saves on the night.
The Bugs and Bulls will play game 4 of their 1st round playoff series tomorrow night from the Amarillo Civic Center. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.