BEES STUCK IN MUD; LOSE 5-1 TO BOSSIER
By: Rachel Reida

Hidalgo, Texas—The Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs notched four unanswered goals between the second and third periods en route to a 5-1 win over the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees Friday night at the Dodge Arena. Brett Smith skated away with the game-winner; his first of two goals in the contest. Rio is now eight points behind Corpus Christi for the last playoff slot in the Southern Conference.
 
Things were even 1-1 at the end of the first, with Bossier scoring first on a Kevin Cooper shot coming from behind the net to beat two Bees defenders and netminder Jeff Van Nynatten at 3:41. With 2:54 left in the period Rio’s Mike Tuomi converted on the power play, with helpers from Travis Banga (his 20th this season) and Nick Warriner for the Bees lone goal in the contest.
 
It was all Mudbugs after that, for they posted four unanswered goals, two each in the remaining periods, two of which were on the power play.
 
At 11:41 in the second it was Smith with the game-winner on the power play, with Warriner having the chance to tie things up at the 12:01 mark with a penalty shot that goaltender Ken Carroll stopped. Cooper picked up his second of the night on a power play with just two seconds left in the period to give Bossier the 3-1 lead.
 
The Mudbugs went on to score two more in the third, one by Joe Ori at 10:37, and Smith with his second at 16:41 to give Bossier-Shreveport the convincing win 5-1.
 
Ken Carroll nabbed the win in net with 22 saves, including Warriner’s penalty shot, while Van Nynatten suffered the loss with 35 saves.
 
The Bees take on the New Mexico Scorpions for the last of their back-to-back home weekend Saturday night at the Dodge Arena. The game will be televised on Televisa with game time set for 7:35 p.m.
 
NOTES
 
-Lone All Star representative for the Bees Travis Banga picked up his 200th career pro game appearance tonight, win which he posted his 20th assist of the season.
 
-Robin Big Snake’s debut as a Bee was rather quiet tonight; he posted one shot on goal, and a surprising zero penalty minutes.
 
-Both teams combined for 3-of-10 on the power play with Bossier 2-of-5 and Rio 1-of-5.
 
-Mike Tuomi, posting the lone goal for Rio tonight now has four points in his last five games.
 
COACH FIXTER SOUNDBITES
 
Thoughts on how the Bees skated tonight:
     "We didn’t get the puck out tonight. We turned it over and there were three turnovers tonight that killed us that ultimately lead to a penalty. We got beat off the wall and it was very poor coverage down low."
 
On the lack of wins:
     "I am sure you can see it on my face; it s frustration. Its very frustrating to have a lack of wins. We need a win right away. We need to start winning hockey games, and worry about being good later."
 
Final thoughts:
    "We are an ugly team but we have good players. It’s up to those players in the room to prove that they want to play hockey. Corpus shouldn’t be eight points ahead because we have been a brutal team for the last whatever games."
What was the turning point in tonights game?:
"It’s tough to pin point one single turning point. Their second and third goals, but the biggest thing is our lack of passion to play and desire to be the best. If you have that desire and that passion you give yourself a chance. If you don’t have that then you don’t have a chance and we don’t have that right now. You can only kick someone so much but it ultimately has to come from within. There is an old saying "You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make them drink", well Sean and I have taken the horses to the river an awful lot, but they have to drink on their own."