Big First Period Helps \'Bugs Double-Up Bucks
February 11, 2011 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manchester Monarchs News Release
LAREDO, TX - The Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs opened up a 3-0 first period lead and held off a Laredo Bucks comeback on their way to a 6-3 victory Friday night at Laredo Energy Arena. The âBugs have now won back-to-back games for the first time since early December to improve their season mark to 24-19-2 heading into tom orrow night's rematch with the Bucks.
Jamie Milam and Jeff Kyrzakos both had three point nights with a goal and two assists each, while David Rutherford scored a goal and assisted on another. James DeLory and Steven Crampton scored the other goals as the Mudbugs improved to 4-1 against Laredo this season.
David Rutherford gave the Mudbugs the lead just 34 seconds in, stealing a puck at the Laredo blueline and beating Pier Pelletier as he was being tripped down for his 29th goal of the season. The lead became 2-0 when Shawn Limpright set up Jamie Milam, who finished off an odd-man rush with his 11th tally of the year. The âBugs then took a 3-0 edge into the locker room after Shane Hart and Brett Smith teamed up to create the rebound opportunity that was pumped into the net by James DeLory at 12:07.
Laredo stormed back in the second period when a pair of goals in less than 90 seconds cut the Mudbug lead to one. First Jeff Hazelwood tapped in a back-door rebound chance on the powerplay at 5:06 and then Neil Trimm buried a cross-ice pass after a failed âBugs clearing attempt to make it a 3-2 game. Bossier-Shreveport regained the two-goal cushion late in the period though when Steven Crampton re-directed a Milam pass over Pelletier's glove to put the visitors on top 4-2 heading to the third.
Jeff Kyrzakos rifled home a powerplay goal on a rebound chance from the high slot early in the final stanza, extending the lead to 5-2 at 2:48. The Bucks again fought back with a Jeff Bes powerplay goal a few minutes later and outshot the Mudbugs for the remainder of the third, but could not beat John DeCaro again before Simon Mangos deposited an empty-netter with 2:33 left to finish off the win.
DeCaro (12-8-1) finished the night with 27 saves, while Pier Pelletier (6-10-4) turned aside 22 shots. Laredo outshot Bossier-Shreveport 30-28 for the night and converted 2 of 5 powerplays. The Mudbugs scored once on four chances.
The two teams will be right back at it tomorrow night for the second of this weekend's back-to-back set at Laredo Energy Arena. Tomorrow night's opening faceoff is set for 7:30 pm with radio coverage beginning at 7:15 on AM 1130 KWKH. The game can also be seen live online on CHL-TV.
• Discuss this story on the American Hockey League message board...
American Hockey League Stories from February 11, 2011
- Aeros Edge Rivermen in Shootout - Peoria Rivermen
- Stars Stun Rockford 6-5 in OT - Texas Stars
- Bears Edge Bruins 4-3 Friday - Hershey Bears
- Admirals Dumped by Wolves 5-2 - Milwaukee Admirals
- Big First Period Helps âBugs Double-Up Bucks - Manchester Monarchs
- Rampage Slip Past Moose 2-1 - San Antonio Rampage
- A Pirates Life For Three - Manchester Monarchs
- Amerks Shutout For Second Straight Time In 3-0 Loss To B-Sens - Rochester Americans
- Smith Pitches Shutout As Admirals Top Crunch - Norfolk Admirals
- Wolves Sail Away With 5-2 Win In Milwaukee - Chicago Wolves
- Moose fall to Rampage - Manitoba Moose
- Cushing Girls Tie Hotchkiss, Boys Roll Past Canterbury in Second Day of Hockey Fest - Connecticut Whale
- Sneep and Street score for Penguins, Joel Martin stops 25 shots in loss - Bridgeport Islanders
- Whale win over Bulldogs - Connecticut Whale
- Brust Earns League-leading Sixth Shutout As B-sens Blank Rochester - Binghamton Senators
- New Shark Machesney shuts down Falcons 5-0 - Worcester Sharks
- P-Bruins Rally but Fall Short - Providence Bruins
- Bulldogs downed by Whale - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Crunch Blanked by Norfolk, 3-0 - Syracuse Crunch
- Pirates Topple the Monarchs - Portland Pirates
- Brady Leisenring Signs PTO With Sound Tigers - Bridgeport Islanders
- Whale Release Jason Williams from PTO - Connecticut Whale
- Hurricanes Recall Brett Sutter from Charlotte - Charlotte Checkers
- Game Day Preview - Texas Stars
- P-Bruins Add Two from Reading - Providence Bruins
- Promotions Galore for Griffins' Three Games in Five Nights - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Preview: Aeros at Peoria, 1st Place on the Line - Houston Aeros
- Canucks Re-Assign Cody Hodgson to Moose - Manitoba Moose
- Canucks Recall Salo from Conditioning Stint - Manitoba Moose
- B-Sens Weekly - Binghamton Senators
- Crunch and Central New York's Meteorologist Wayne Mahar to Sell 'Mystery Autographed' Pucks - Syracuse Crunch
- B-Sens Recall Defenseman Brennan Turner from Gwinnett - Binghamton Senators
- Islanders Make Trio of Transactions - Bridgeport Islanders
- Falcons Host the Sharks Tonight - Springfield Falcons
- AHL Quick Hits - AHL
- Moose Recall McGinnis from Kalamazoo - Manitoba Moose
- Game Day: Amerks, B-Sens Square off Tonight at Blue Cross Arena - Rochester Americans
- Crunch Announce Details of Riunite Wine Sampling Night - Syracuse Crunch
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
