The Odessa Jackalopes (3-4-1) took on the El Paso Rhinos (5-2-0) Friday night in El Paso.
The first period found the Jacks in an all too familiar situation as the Rhinos scored just a few minutes into the contest. This would be the 7th time in 9 games that the Jacks would concede the first goal of the contest. Both teams would receive a power play opportunity in the period, but would turn up unsuccessful. The Rhinos would take the 1-0 lead into the 2nd.
The 2nd period was all El Paso. They would score three goals within a span of 10 minutes in the 2nd period to take a 4-0 lead. However, the Jacks would get on the board in the 2nd as Hayden Demars would net his 3rd goal in 3 games off of a beautiful feed from Teddy Manlove, for the Jacks to swing the momentum back in their favor. The 2nd period would end 4-1 in favor of the Rhinos.
The Rhinos wasted no time in the 3rd period to regain their four goal lead just 26 seconds into the period. The Jacks would not back down, however. On an El Paso power play, Demars would get on a breakaway and fake the forehand and roof a backhander into the back of the net. That was Demars’ 2nd of the night and his 4th in 3 games. That made it a 5-2 contest. Then Trevor Mitchell would waltz into the zone and snipe one blocker side at the 7:55 mark to cut the lead down to two. Then controversy struck just two minutes later. The Jacks were in the offensive zone and the puck was moving toward the crease and the net got dislodged. The puck was in position to go into the back of the net, therefore after convening, the officials awarded the Jacks the goal. Therefore, with 9:55 remaining in the 3rd period, the Jacks had cut the lead to one goal. With 1:30 remaining the Jacks would go back on the power play and pull the goalie making it a 6 on 4 power play, but superb shot blocking and stellar goaltending proved to be enough as the Jacks couldn’t find the last goal.
El Paso would move to 6-2-0 with that victory, while the Jacks fell to 3-5-1 on the season. The next game for the Jacks is tomorrow, Saturday, at 8:00 P.M. CDT. These games will be available on NAHLTV and a free audio only version of the stream will be available on the Odessa Jackalopes YouTube page.
Reminder Jacks fans single game tickets are on sale and season ticket packages are still available. You can find them online or call 432-552-7825 and Tania can help you out. Come be a part of the Jacks family as we celebrate 27 continuous years of hockey in Odessa! Opening weekend is October 27th and 28th as the Odessa Jackalopes take on the El Paso Rhinos.