Shreveport, LA – The Shreveport Mudbugs defeated the Amarillo Wranglers by the final score of 5-1 at Hirsch Coliseum on Friday night.
Amarillo looked to end a three-game losing streak coming into the contest, taking on a Mudbugs team who had been one of the hottest teams in the league winning 12 of their last 14 games. Amarillo’s Connor McDonough made his 12th straight start in net, boasting a record of 22-13-5-2, a 2.44 GAA, a .909 save percentage, and one shutout on the season entering the contest. The Mudbugs started star goaltender Eliot Seguin-Lescarbeau in goal, who was recently named the NAHL’s goalie of the month for February where he went 6-0, posting a 1.25 GAA and a .940 save percentage.
Amarillo applied pressure early, hemming the Mudbugs in their own zone for the majority of the first five minutes of the game. Despite this, the Mudbugs scored the game’s opening goal 5:01 into the first period on a break the other way. Lucas Deeb scored his 17th goal of the season from Ryan Burke and Brent Litchard to put Shreveport up 1-0. Deeb’s goal would end up being the first of five unanswered goals for the Mudbugs. The Wranglers had a power play opportunity midway through the first frame, but the Mudbugs were up to the task and got the kill. Late in the period Shreveport got a 5 on 3 opportunity and scored to make it a 2-0 game. Nick Marino capitalized for his 8th power play goal of the season from Colin Vassallo and Hayden Nichol. Shreveport led the shot count 9-6 after the end of the first period.
The first half of the second period featured a goaltending duel, as Seguin-Lescarbeau and McDonough each made acrobatic saves for their teams to keep the game’s score at 2-0. The Wranglers had a power play chance a little over five minutes into the period, but Seguin-Lescarbeau shut down every bid the Wranglers made to put the puck in the back of the net. Despite brilliant puck movement and quality shots, the Wranglers came up empty handed on the power play. Late in the period, the Mudbugs scored again to go up 3-0 with 3:07 to go in the second frame. This time it was Liam Fleet scoring for the Mudbugs, as he fired a shot from the top of the left circle as a screed impeded McDonough’s vision to beat him far side for the score. The Mudbugs had the lead at 3-0 at the conclusion of the second period, despite the shot count being tied up 16-16.
A penalty against the Wranglers at the end of the second period gave the Mudbugs a man advantage to begin the third period. Shreveport scored on the power play chance to go up 4-0 just 1:38 into the final period. Colin Vassallo scored from Nichol and Kyan Haldenby to extend the Mudbug lead to four. Carter McKay redirected a centering feed from Bryce Boucher with 10:10 to go to put Shreveport up 5-0, before the Wranglers broke Seguin-Lescarbeau’s shutout bid as a couple quick passes between Ben Ivey and Jack McDonald ended in McDonald’s 10th goal of the season to settle the score at 5-1.
With the loss, Amarillo falls to 26-17-6-2 on the season and will look to bounce back on Saturday night in the season series finale between the two clubs. You can watch on NAHLTV or listen in on YouTube.