The Shreveport Mudbugs (2-1) got a pair of goals from Colin Vassallo and another from Kyan Haldenby to squeeze past the El Paso Rhinos, 3-2 to take a 2-1 series lead at the El Paso County Events Center Friday night.
ELP opened up the scoring at 6:18 as Paavo Hiltunen threw a shot into the net through traffic to give the Rhinos a 1-0 lead. SHV responded at 13:50 on a 4 on 4 scenario when Colin Vassallo smacked in a rebound in front for his first goal of the playoffs to even the score, 1-1. Brent Litchard and Wil Murphy earned the helpers. It was Vassallo cashing in against at 17:40 when Ryan Burke fed him a perfect pass across which was sliced in from the Buffalo native for his second goal of the contest to put SHV up 2-1. The Bugs led in SOG, 15-8 after one.
El Paso out-worked Shreveport in the first half of the second period, but it was Kyan Haldenby who stole a puck in front and chipped in his second goal of this series to increase the Bugs’ lead to 3-1 at 16:21. SHV led in SOG, 24-18 after two.
The Rhinos kept working and at 7:42, Jakub Jerman would score off a scrum battle by hammering in a goal to make it a 3-2 contest. That would be the closest ELP would get as Eliot Seguin-Lescarbeau was very sharp in the end to earn his second win in these playoffs.
Seguin-Lescarbeau made 22 stops on the night.
The Bugs and Rhinos will play Game 4 of their South Divisional Semi-Final series tomorrow night. Puck drop is scheduled for 8 p.m. CT from the El Paso County Events Center. We encourage our fans to attend our viewing party at Buffalo Wild Wings off Airline Rd. in Bossier City, LA.