The Jackalopes, fresh off of a victory, looked to make it two in a row in front of a 2,456 home crowd to close out the eight-game home stand.
The Ice Wolves would begin the scoring just before the midway point of the 1st period as they converted on a rebound out in front of the net, making it a 1-0 contest. The Jacks would face adversity in the second half of the frame as two penalties were called on them, one with eight minutes remaining and one with three and a half. Continuing their strong performance from the evening before, the Jacks killed both of the penalties off and kept it a one-goal game going into the 2nd period. Shots on goal after 20 minutes were 15-13 in favor of Odessa.
It was once again New Mexico in the 2nd period, as they scored the only goal of the middle frame. Ice Wolves forward Yusaku Ando notched his second goal of the night from the near side faceoff circle to extend the lead to 2-0. No penalties were called in the 2nd period, and the Ice Wolves moved into the 3rd period up 2-0. Shots on goal for the 2nd period were 12-7 in favor of the visitors. Game total displayed 25-22 in favor of New Mexico
The 3rd period was where the game came to life. Just over a minute into the 3rd period, it was James Richman firing one home from inside the circles to get the Jackalopes on the board, and cut the Ice Wolves lead to one. New Mexico would respond a couple of minutes later, re-establishing the two-goal lead with a shot from the point. The puck appeared to be deflected out in front with a high stick, but following a convention of the officials in front of the scorers table, the officials determined the puck did not change direction and the goal would stand. The Jacks would get their first power play of the game at the 8:13 mark of the 3rd period and not disappoint. A shot pass came in from Riley Rosenthal and keeping his stick on the ice was Jacks forward Cam Dunn who tipped the puck in the back of the net to make it a 3-2 game. Scoring would die down for a while, until the Jacks pulled the goaltender with under three minutes to go. New Mexico tacked on two empty net goals to seal the deal, and skate away with the 5-2 victory.
The Jacks have a six-game road trip coming up, and here is what Head Coach Scott Deur had to say about the importance of points and the tough opponents coming up for the Jacks. “We know where we’re sitting right now, we know what we have to do. There’s no easy night in the South Division, so we gotta make sure we’re ready to go, perform at our best, and bear down when we get our chances.”
The Jacks fall to 17-22-6 on the year, with the next game being Friday, February 16th, @ Lone Star. Puck drop is set for 7:30 P.M.
All Jacks games can be streamed on the North American Hockey League’s streaming service NAHLTV, with the voice of the Jacks, Brandon Luisi. A free audio only version will also be available on the Odessa Jackalopes YouTube page.