Sunday Wrap-up: The Shreveport Mudbugs Go Claws Up

Shreveport 3 @ Odessa 2 - The Shreveport Mudbugs end the weekend with a win after they held off a comeback attempt from the Odessa Jackalopes. Both teams were coming into this game having won the night before, and if there were any signs of fatigue from either of them, it certainly wasn’t showing. Odessa would get on the board first on a goal from Ryan Staples, his second in as many games. Adam Matar had stolen the puck from a Shreveport defender behind the net before finding Staples in front of goaltender Kristers Plepis. Odessa would run into some penalty trouble shortly which didn’t result in a goal but the ensuing momentum swing allowed Shreveport to breathe and collect themselves before Shreveport’s Antoine Cormier would score by flinging the puck towards the net and having it bounce off a defender, redirecting past goaltender Benjamin Vatis. Shreveport would score again a little over halfway through the period after some creative passing led to an open net for Duke Ehrhard, which he put past Vatis to break the tie. Jonah Jasser was able to get it to a wide open Ehrhard after the defender pinched up on him too much and left Ehrhard wide open. Shreveport would ramp up offensive pressure in the second period looking for an insurance goal. They would find it on the power play after Cormier fired a shot that went over Vatis’ glove and went bar down and in for Cormier’s second goal of the game. Credit to Odessa, who found back hard in the third period, holding Shreveport to three shots while taking 13 of their own, but they couldn’t get past Plepis until late in the period when Kaid Pawlanta unleashed a slapshot on a pass from Rhys Medved to give Odessa some life in the late stages of the game. Controversially, it did appear that Odessa may have scored with an empty net and 40 seconds left after the shot hit the crossbar and went out. The official immediately called it no goal but the light and horn came on leading to confusion that ultimately resulted in no goal. After the ensuing faceoff, Shreveport would kill the rest of the time off the clock to secure the 3-2 victory.