The Odessa Jackalopes kicked off their weekend by taking on the New Mexico Ice Wolves on the road as they look to bounce back after back to back defeats.
The first period, which has troubled the Jacks to start the year, did not trouble them tonight. Just over two minutes after the opening faceoff, Trevor Mitchell controlled the puck off of a neutral zone faceoff win, skated into the zone, picked his corner and buried the puck into the back of the net making it 1-0 Jacks. That wouldn’t be all in the first period for Odessa as the puck was bouncing in the blue paint, Michael Kadlecik turned around and whacked at the puck, it floated right onto the stick of Teddy Manlove who sent the puck into the open cage to double the Jacks lead. The Jacks would take that same 2-0 lead into the 2nd period.
The Ice Wolves would not go away without a fight. On the power play the Ice Wolves were able to find the back of the net and bring it to within one. Both teams would get many chances throughout the next few minutes, but it was Cameron Dunn, off the pass from Kadlecik, who found the back of the net over the outstretched glove of Ice Wolves goaltender, Andy Vlaha. That made the game 3-1 in favor of the Jacks. As soon as the two goal lead was re-established, it vanished. Just four seconds later, the Ice Wolves off the draw fired one blocker side on Quentin Sigurdson making it 3-2. That would prove to be the last goal of the period and the Jacks would take a slim one goal lead into the third period.
The first ten minutes of the third period were back and forth with both goalies and defensemen making miraculous plays to keep the puck out of the back of the net. However, the last ten minutes was all Ice Wolves. The Ice Wolves would pull their goalie with nearly 100 seconds remaining in the game, but it wouldn’t be until there was 22.3 seconds left that the Ice Wolves would tie the game at 3, sending it to overtime.
The overtime period didn’t have enough sustained offensive zone time or pressure to favor one team, which meant these two teams were going to the shootout. This would be the Jacks second straight game going into the shootout. First up was Adam Armijo, the hometown kid. He picked his spot up top and fired it past Vlaha to make it 1-0 Jacks. The Ice Wolves would fail to convert as Sigurdson made a stick save. Defensemen John Christen would be next for the Jacks and he showed off his silky mitts and fired one bar down, glove side to put the pressure on the Ice Wolves. A must score opportunity for the Ice Wolves and Sigurdson made the save, giving the Jacks the extra point in the contest.
The Jacks improve to 2-2-1 on the season and the Ice Wolves fall to 2-1-2 on the season. The next game will be Saturday between these same two teams. The game can be streamed through NAHLTV. An audio only free broadcast will also be provided through 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. Come be a part of the Jacks family as we celebrate 27 continuous years of hockey in Odessa!