The Shreveport Mudbugs (19-5-3) squeezed out a 2-1 shootout victory over the surging Amarillo Bulls thanks to an amazing night for Arseni Sergeyev in net.
Amarillo got on the board just 1:28 into the 1st period when they created a turnover and it was Harrison Scott firing home his team-leading 11th tally of the season to give the Bulls an early 1-0. After that goal, the Bugs threw the kitchen sink at Hunter Garvey making his first start in net for Amarillo, but couldn’t beat him generating 20 SOG. Shreveport led in SOG, 20-18 after one.
Amarillo threw every kitchen sink they had of their own towards Arseni Sergeyev, but the Russian netminder made one great save after another to keep the Bulls scoreless in the middle period. Shreveport only mustered six shots in the period, but Sean Bunting on a loose puck from the short side was able to fire home his seventh goal of the year top shelf to even the score, 1-1. Bunting’s tally was unassisted as Amarillo out-shot Shreveport 24-6 alone in the 2nd period.
The game stayed tied 1-1 after the third period thanks to big saves from Sergeyev who ended up making up 63 saves on the night.
The Mudbugs PK killed off five powerplays including a brief 4 on 3 in the OT session sending the game into the shootout.
Sergeyev stopped all three shots in the shootout session and Matt Weber slipped in the only goal to lift the Mudbugs to a resilient 2-1 victory and end Amarillo’s eight-game winning streak.
Sergeyev wins his third straight start between the pipes.
The Bugs and Bulls will conclude this two-game series tomorrow night from the Amarillo Civic Center. The puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.