On Saturday the Jacks faced the Corpus Christi IceRays for the final time this season. The IceRays won the previous night by a score of 5-1. It was their first-time beating Odessa all season. The loss put the Jacks on a four-game losing streak.
The first period opened up with the Jacks scoring within two minutes of the opening faceoff. Ryan Kelly (12) let a wrist shot fly from the hash marks and it went right past Lukas Malant. Later in the period, Odessa would increase their lead after Cameron Dunn (5) followed up a rebound right in front of Malant. The IceRays would cut the lead in half a minute later after their captain, Anthony Cafarelli (13), beat Greg Orosz. With under three minutes remaining in the period, Odessa would convert on their first powerplay of the game. The goal was scored by Dunn (6) which marked his first career multi-goal game. It was also the first time Odessa scored a power-play goal in their last seven games (0/22). Dunn had this to say about his multi-goal night, “It felt good to finally get some bounces and put them in the back of the net. Overall, it was a really good team effort.” The IceRays would pull within one again after scoring on their first powerplay of the night. The goal came from Jack Linton with under 20 seconds left in the period. That goal marked the first in his NAHL career. The Jacks took a 3-2 lead into the first intermission and were outshooting Corpus Christi, 21-8.
Odessa added two to their total in the middle period which were roughly separated by a minute. The first goal came from Emerson Goode (27) after he received a terrific saucer pass from Dayne Hoyord. Noah Marino (5) redirected a pass from Tanyon Bajzer to put Odessa up 5-2. The hard-hitting period led to a fight between Michael Kadlecik and Stepan Kuznetsov. Both would only receive a total of 15 minutes for the altercation. The Jacks took a 5-2 lead into the second intermission and were still outshooting Corpus Christi, 32-22.
In the final period, the IceRays came out a much different team. Mainly because they had a new goalie between the pipes. Due to an injury, Malant was unable to return for the third period, replacing him was Patrik Jurcak. The IceRays not only outshot Odessa 12-4 in the third period but they also went on to score three goals and tie the game. Their third goal of the game came exactly seven minutes into the third period. The goal was scored by Cameron Crolley (8). Almost two minutes later Connor Brust (7) would beat Orosz to put the IceRays within one for the third time. There would be another fight in the game as Gage Parillo dropped the gloves with Lemuel Vardy. Both were given a total of 15 penalty minutes but with there being less than that on the clock both players were done for the night. Crolley (9) notched his second of the night at the 14:49 mark of the final period while his team was on the man advantage. His goal resulted in a 5-5 score that would not be broken by the end of regulation. Resulting in the game going into overtime. The Jacks were outshooting the IceRays, 36-34.
Corpus Christi controlled most of the 3-on-3 overtime as they registered five shots on Orosz but he was able to deny them all. As for the Jacks, they managed to put up two shots on Jurcak but he too denied them. Sending the game into a shootout as the score remained 5-5. The shootout went four rounds with Dunn scoring for Odessa in the second and Kuznetsov in the third for Corpus Christi. Dayne Hoyord would take the fourth shot for Odessa and beat Jurcak five-hole to give Odessa a 6-5 victory. Hoyord had this to say about his game-winning goal, “I did not really know what move I was going to do, I was kind of just reading the goaltender. I did not really have any nerves going into the shot I just went down there and tried to get a good quality shot off on him.” Both teams finished with 39 shots. The Jacks went 1/2 on the powerplay and the IceRays went 2/4.
Odessa ends their season series against the IceRays with a 7-1 record. The win snapped the Jacks four-game losing streak. Odessa is now ten points out of a playoff spot with nine games remaining in the season. Head Coach Scott Deur had this to say following the win, “I did not like our third period, we let them back in the game by not playing the right way. Getting the win though always feels good and especially on Saturday night.” The Jacks homestand continues this weekend as they will host the Shreveport Mudbugs. Both games are scheduled for 7:15 p.m. CDT.
Photo credit: Danne Braden
