The Odessa Jackalopes, following a weekend where they took three out of a possible six points, began a two-game series at home against the Brahmas Friday evening.
It was a less than ideal start for the Jacks as less than a minute in the Brahmas capitalized on a loose puck in the slot. The Brahmas forward was left wide open to deposit the puck into the back of the net giving the Brahmas the 1-0 lead. The Jacks would strike back on the power play on a great individual effort from forward Cam Dunn. He snaked his way through the neutral zone, split the defenders, and backhanded one past Brahmas goalie Deivs Rolovs. That tied the game at one. Just a couple minutes later the Brahmas would be awarded a power play and it only took them four seconds to strike. Bryce Ingles found the loose puck off the faceoff and sniped one bar and in, giving the Brahmas the 2-1 lead, which they would hold going into the 1st intermission. A slew of penalties were called in the 1st period. The Jacks were 1-2 on the power play and so were the Brahmas. The Brahmas would take their 3rd power play into the 2nd period. Shots on goal after 20 minutes were 13-10 in favor of Lone Star.
The 2nd period was a carbon copy of the 1st, under a minute in, Lone Star would notch their 2nd power play goal of the game. This made it a 3-1 game in favor of the Brahmas. The Jacks would get two power plays in the period. One right after the Lone Star goal and one at the midway point of the 2nd frame, but were unable to convert on either, dropping them to 1-4 on the man advantage. Following the 2nd power play, Lone Star would add another insurance goal off of a funny deflection in front of the cage. This made the game 4-1 in favor of the Brahmas, which they would take into the 2nd intermission. Shots on goal for the 2nd period were 13-8 in favor of Odessa. Odessa also controlled the total shots on goal 23-21.
The last period, the Jacks really seemed to wake up and have their best period. Each team notched 5 shots on goal in the period. It was the Jacks however, just past the seven minute mark bringing the game to within two. Riley Rosenthal had the puck at the point, saw the screen in front, fired one to the net, beating Rolovs to make it a 4-2 game. The Jacks would receive a golden opportunity with 3:30 to go. They would go on a 4:00 power play due to a double minor high sticking penalty called on the Brahmas. Following the faceoff, the Jacks would pull Quentin Sigurdson in favor of the extra attacker, but were unable to beat Rolovs. The game would end 4-2 and the Brahmas would skate away with two points.
Following the game, Jacks Head Coach Scott Deur talked about the importance of limiting the opportunities for a dangerous team like Lone Star. “I think we did better in the 3rd period. In the 1st and 2nd, I thought they [Lone Star] had their way, but anytime you can hold a team to basically 25 shots or less, it’s not bad”
The Jacks fall to 16-20-5 on the season with their next game being Saturday, February 3rd, vs. Lone Star @ 7:15 P.M. You can listen to the voice of the Jacks, Brandon Luisi, on NAHLTV and YouTube.