Yesterday the Jacks faced the Amarillo Wranglers for the seventh time this season. Odessa is 3-3 against Amarillo so far this season. The Jacks were winless in their last three games. Whereas the Wranglers were on a four-game losing streak. While both teams are unable to reach the playoffs, the Wranglers were only four points behind Odessa heading into game one this weekend.
Odessa started out the opening period with tons of pressure on Wranglers goalie, Carter Clafton. Their relentless attack led to Chris Duclair (22) scoring the first goal of the game. Amarillo had a few scoring chances, but Noah Rupprecht was able to deny all 11 shots he saw in the first period. Odessa ended the opening period with 13 shots.
Amarillo would tie the game at the 11:06 mark of the middle frame. The tying goal was scored by Aidan Carney (6). A few minutes later, Trevor Taulien took a shot that glanced off Clafton’s shoulder and dropped into his crease. It eventually would reach the back of the net after going off Ryan Kusler (6). A little over a minute later and it was Dayne Hoyord putting the Jacks up by a pair. He sniped it far side on Clafton for his 20th goal of the season. The Jacks headed into the second-period intermission with a 3-1 lead. They were outshooting Amarillo, 26-23.
The Jacks continued to keep their foot on the gas and their payoff was a three-goal third period. It started at the 10:25 mark as Tanyon Bajzer (14) easily tapped in a loose puck. A few minutes later, Chris Duclair and Mike Manzo went on a two-on-one rush into the offensive zone. Duclair sent a perfect saucer pass over to Manzo for his sixth goal of the season. It only took 16 seconds for the Jacks to get on the board again. Their fifth unanswered goal was scored by Bajzer (15) marking his second of the night. Rupprecht continued to make countless remarkable saves. Which resulted in Odessa winning the game 6-1. The Wranglers finished with 41 shots and the Jacks had 39. Odessa went 0/4 on the powerplay and Amarillo went 0/3.
The win gave Odessa their 28th of the season, earning them the second-most wins in franchise history. Noah Rupprecht had this to say about his 40 save night, “The team was buzzing from top to bottom. Our goal this whole year was to play a full 60 minutes and I think from forwards to defenseman we really did that. They kept shots outside which made it easy for me tonight.” It also snapped their three-game losing streak and put Amarillo on a five-game losing streak. The Jacks will conclude their season series with Amarillo tonight at 7:05 pm CDT. Odessa leads the season series, 4-3.
Photo credit: Danne Braden
