The Odessa Jackalopes began an eight-game homestand this Friday, by taking on the Oklahoma Warriors.
The 1st period was exactly what the doctor ordered for the Jacks. Just two and a half minutes in, newcomer, Nick Metelkin, picked the puck up in front of the Oklahoma bench, pulled a windmill deke around the defender in front of him, got on a breakaway and made no mistake, firing it high glove on Oklahoma goaltender Daniel Duris. That gave the Jacks the 1-0 lead. While there were no goals the rest of the period, the Jacks played very strong, outshooting the Warriors 15-12.
The 2nd period was a defensive period for the Jacks. They limited the Warriors to just 7 shots on goal in total and killed off 3 penalties, including a long 5 on 3. Speaking on the 5 on 3 penalty kill, Jacks Head Coach Scott Deur mentioned, “I think that’s the way the game waa going. You saw guys blocking shots, we were able to clear it a couple times, guys were doing their job and what we expect of them.” The Jacks would take the 1-0 lead into the 3rd period.
The 3rd period was where the Warriors would begin to take some chances on the offensive side, but like all season long, the goaltending from Quentin Sigurdson shut the door on them. The Jacks would tack on an empty net goal with just over a minute remaining as Charlie Smith would fire one into the back of the net to solidify the victory. Sigurdson notched a 26 save shutout and the Jacks notched two points in the standings.
Speaking on the overall effort of the game, Deur mentioned, “I thought we did a better job of backchecking, getting sticks in lanes. I thought we were better in the offensive zone, creating pressure, and not so much one and done.We had multiple attacks in the offensive zone, so that was good to see.”
The Jacks improve to 16-18-4 on the season with their next game being, Saturday, January 27th, vs. Oklahoma Warriors @ 7:15 P.M. You can listen to the voice of the Jacks, Brandon Luisi, on NAHLTV and YouTube.