ODESSA, TX – John DeCaro stopped 36 shots to win his sixth consecutive start as the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs knocked off the Odessa Jackalopes 4-1 Saturday night at the Ector County Coliseum. The ‘Bugs built a 3-0 lead through two periods on the way to their league-best 17th victory of the season.

Box Score

Jeff Kyrzakos, David Rutherford, Kevin Seibel and Joe Blaznek all found the back of the net for Bossier-Shreveport, who snapped a two-game road losing skid with the win. 27 of DeCaro’s saves came in the last two periods as the ‘Bugs protected the lead to win their first meeting of the year against Odessa.
 
The Mudbugs capitalized on a pair of Odessa turnovers to take a 2-0 lead into the second frame. Joe Blaznek and Travis Clayton helped set up the first goal as Jeff Kyrzakos beat Joel Martin from the high slot at 2:24. David Rutherford then scooped up a loose puck in the Odessa zone and stickhandled into the slot before backhanding his league-leading 16th goal of the year into the net at the 8:40 mark.
 
Odessa sent 15 shots on net in the second period, but John DeCaro made a number of tough saves to keep the ‘Bugs on top by a pair into the final minutes of the period. Then with 1:24 left in the stanza, Kevin Seibel sent a long slapshot through traffic and inside the right post for his first goal as a Mudbug to extend the lead to 3-0 heading into the third.
 
The Jackalopes got on the scoreboard in the third period when Todd Robinson scored on a shorthanded breakaway at 9:41, cutting the Mudbug lead to 3-1. Exactly four minutes later however, Shane Hart chased a loose puck into the corner after a Mudbug dump-in and fed a cross ice pass to Joe Blaznek, who sniped his eighth goal of the season into the top corner to put the ‘Bugs back on top by three and cap off the 4-1 victory.
 
DeCaro improves to 7-1-0 with the win as Bossier-Shreveport was outshot 37-29. Joel Martin made 25 saves but dropped to 5-8-0 for the year. Both teams went scoreless on six powerplay opportunities.