Dillinger Scores First Goal as Cats Fall in Odessa
February 4, 2016 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Wichita Falls Wildcats News Release
Playing in their first and only three-game road series of the season, the Wildcats were defeated by the Odessa Jackalopes by a score of 3-2 Thursday night.
Odessa had not defeated Wichita Falls once through their first seven matchups this season, and they were as hungry as any team to finally take them down. However, with fresh legs after having not practiced all week, the Wildcats jumped on the board first after Trent Dillinger picked up a rebound off of Jon Flakne and stuffed the puck past him for his first goal as a Wildcat.
The joy caused by the newest Wildcat's first goal did not last long, however. Just three minutes later, Jackalope alternate captain Derek Brown stickhandled between several Wildcats from the corner boards to the front of the net before backhanding a shot past Justin Kapelmaster to level the score.
The second period began tied at 1, and the Jackalopes rallied back to take their first lead of the game. In the closing seconds of an Odessa power play, Cooper Zech found his older brother Zach Zech wide open and set him up perfectly on a backdoor pass to give the Jacks a 2-1 lead.
The scales were tipped even more in Odessa's favor in the third period. They outshot the Wildcats in the third period 12-10, and Dakoda Menslage rifled a one-timer past Kapelmaster from the right point on the power play at the 47:07 mark. The goal was Menslage's second of the season.
It took ten minutes for the Wildcats to finally respond. Ben Lown slipped the puck through Flakne's five-hole off a takeaway to bring the score to within one. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, it was too little, too late as Flakne held his ground to stave off the relentless Wildcats attack. The Cats dropped two games in regulation for the first time of the season.
Kapelmaster was given his sixth regulation defeat after making 24 saves on 27 shots, while Jon Flakne won his second game as a Jackalope and First Star of the Game honors after stopping 30 of 32 shots. The Wildcats are back at the Ector County Coliseum on Friday, February 5th to take on the Jackalopes for the second game of a three-game stint in Odessa.
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