Yesterday the Jackalopes continued their road trip as they faced the Amarillo Wranglers. Amarillo entered game one on a two-game losing streak after being swept by Oklahoma. Odessa was on a two-game win streak after sweeping Corpus Christi. The Jacks were 3-1 on the season against Amarillo going into last night’s contest.
For the eighth-straight game, Greg Orosz was between the pipes for Odessa. Posting a 5-2 record during that span. As for the Wranglers, they started Carter Clafton, who came into the game with only one win in his last 13 games. The opening period saw a lot of back and forth from both teams which resulted in a scoreless period. The Jacks had 12 shots and the Wranglers had 11.
The middle period saw lots of scoring chances on both sides of the ice but was met with fantastic goaltending. The Wranglers added 16 shots to their total and the Jackalopes put up 11.
The scoreless game was finally broken 1:32 into the third period after Connor McNaughton (5) sent the puck toward Orosz and it just trickled in. Odessa was throwing everything they had at Clafton but he continued to make highlight reel saves. The Jackalopes pulled Orosz as time was expiring but were unable to register a tying goal. Resulting in a 1-0 win for Amarillo and their first shutout of the season. It marked the fourth time this season that the Jacks were held off the scoresheet. Amarillo finished with 41 shots and Odessa had 33. Both teams went 0/3 on the powerplay. Odessa will now prepare to split the weekend series when game two starts tonight at 7:15 p.m. CDT.
Photo credit: Danne Braden
