ODESSA, TX— It what was the most decisive performance by Odessa this season as the Jackalopes (15-21-1-1) defeated the Lone Star Brahmas (18-16-2-4) 7-0 at the Ector County Coliseum on Friday night.
The scoring started early for the Jacks, just over three minutes into the game to be exact.
Vaclav Zidek found himself uncovered in the slot when he received a pass from below the goal line. Zidek sent a one-timer toward the net and beat Lone Star netminder Seth Eisele and into the back of the net to put Odessa up 1-0.
The Jackalopes did not score until the second, but when they did it opened the floodgates.
After a dominant shift the Jackalopes got traffic on front of the net for a point shot that was deflected by Jan Blasko and into the net. Blasko, a newcomer from the Czech Republic celebrated his first North American Hockey League goal that put the Jackalopes up 2-0.
But Odessa didn’t stop there. Jared Christy scored back-to-back-goals to close out the scoring in the second. One was off a lead pass that found him in one-one-one with a Brahma defenseman. Christy used the man as a screen and shot the puck in past Eisele. The other was when Christy received a pass at the top of the slot and then streaked in on goal. His first shot was saved but he followed up his rebound and buried it into the back of the net.
Christy’s two goals gave Odessa a 4-0 lead going into the third period and signaled the end of the night for Eisele as he was pulled after the fourth Odessa goal.
In the third period the Brahmas surged offensively for the first nine minutes but Alex Camarre and the Jackalopes defense were able to keep Lone Star at bay.
Then, midway thought the third the Jacks offensively again.
Zach Heintz found Kellen Tharaldson for a blast from the top of the circles that found its way into the back of the net.
Connor Smith got on the scoresheet when he received a pass from the near corer and put away a one timer from the top of the crease.
Zach Heintz finished things off with a great individual effort after getting the puck off a face-off. He skated across the ice, fighting off defenders, then pivoted when he reached the other face-off dot and sent a quick wrist shot toward the net that sailed into the top left corner.
Heintz extended his point streak to four games and netted his 99th career point in his 150th career game in the North American Hockey League.
On top of that, Camarre made 25 saves to earn his second shutout of the season and first since December 1.
The Jacks will look to earn a weekend sweep of the Brahmas on Saturday night when they close out the series. Face-off is set for 7:11 pm.
