Odessa, TX – The point-streak has run itself to eight straight games after the Odessa Jackalopes (16-10-2-1) thwarted a comeback from the Corpus Christi IceRays (12-13-2-3) with a 4-3 shootout victory. The game kicked off the Jackalopes rodeo weekend at the Coliseum.
Brett Epp was forced to make a highlight reel play on Corpus Christi’s first shot of the game, and answered the call with no problems. Peyton Frantti kicked the scoring off just under seven minutes into the first period as he tipped an initial shot off the stick of Evan Somoza past the IceRays’ Jake Acton for the 1-0 lead.
Odessa would net one more at almost the same time a period later. In the midst of a change, Ricky Carballo sauces a pass rink-wide, and thanks to Noah Roofe’s blown coverage, Zach Heintz taps it in on a one-timer past Acton for an insurance goal.
The IceRays are a resilient team however and netted three goals in the middle frame to take the lead through the first 40 minutes. Roof made up for his mistake by scoring the IceRays first of the night and opening the floodgates. Matus Havrila tallied his second of the season, followed up less than two minutes later by a nice floater from Garrett Hallford to finish off the period.
Peyton Frantti knew the deficit wouldn’t last, and did something about it. In four-on-four action early in the third, James Crossman jabbed a puck to keep it in the attacking zone. A game of cat and mouse ensued with Zach Heintz feeding a give-and-go to Peyton Frantti who sniped one past Acton for the great equalizer.
With only 45 second remaining in regulation, the Jacks had a man sent to the penalty box for delay in game off of two faceoff infractions, forcing the Jacks to finish regulation shorthanded. They would kill off the penalty in overtime as the entire overtime period was played on the special teams between these two squads, leading to a shootout.
Brett Epp prevented the IceRays from netting one in the shootout while Petr Miko and Matt Brown each scored for the Jackalopes victory. Epp made 34 saves on the evening while Acton had his career-best 50-save night.
The Jackalopes finish off the first half of their season on Saturday night when they host the Corpus Christi IceRays for the 4th annual Teddy Bear Toss night in partnership with Vital Care, Courtyard Family Practice, and CBS 7. All teddy bears will be donated to Rays of Hope and Guardians of the Children.
Make sure to bring a teddy bear with on Saturday and help the Jacks hit their goal of 1,500 teddy bears thrown on the ice. As well, it’s your chance to snap a photo with the jolly man himself, as Santa Claus will grace the Jack Shack from 5:30-7 pm.
Don’t leave after the game though, as the Jackalopes will be auctioning off their special rodeo jerseys that they will wear this entire weekend. All the fun starts with a 7:11 pm puck drop.
The 2017-2018 Odessa Jackalopes single game tickets are on sale now! To reserve your seats, contact the Jackalopes’ ticket office today at 432-552-7825 or hop on to www.jackalopes.org for more information.
Also, be sure to follow the Jackalopes on Twitter and Facebook (@LetsGoJacks), Instagram (odessajackalopes), and add us on Snapchat (odessajacks) all year long.
— ODESSA JACKALOPES —
