Tired 'Bugs Pull out Gutsy Comeback Win Over 'Kings

November 28, 2010 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs News Release


BOSSIER CITY, LA - The Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs scored five times in the final 22 minutes of play to pull out a 5-4 victory over the Mississippi RiverKings Sunday afternoon at the CenturyTel Center. The game finished off a set of five games in six days for the Mudbugs, four of which came up as victories as the team improved to 16-5-0 this season.

Jeff Martens and David Rutherford each contributed a goal and an assist to spur another come-from-behind win, while Joe Blaznek netted two third-period goals to help keep the ‚¬ËœBugs ahead. Shane Hart scored the other Mudbugs goal and John DeCaro made 30 saves to backstop his fifth consecutive victory in net.

Mississippi built a 2-0 first period lead as Patrik Levesque scored on a wraparound at 7:43 and then RG Flath finished off a 2-on-1 break for a shorthanded goal at 18:24. The RiverKings maintained that lead and outshot the ‚¬ËœBugs for most of the second, but Bossier-Shreveport got on the board late in the period to cut the lead in half. Jeff Martens fed a great back-door feed across the slot to Shane Hart, who finished the give-and-go at the front of the net for his third goal of the season.

The Mudbugs tied it up only 24 seconds into the third period when David Rutherford sprung Martens on a breakaway, where he beat Larry Sterling with a top-shelf backhander. A Mississippi turnover at center led to the next goal as Rutherford picked up the puck and skated into the right circle before rifling a shot off Sterling's arm and into the net to give the ‚¬ËœBugs their first lead. Blaznek extended that lead to 4-2 one minute later with his sixth goal of the year from the left circle.

Andrew Lackner scored a powerplay tally for the RiverKings at 13:09 to get the visitors back within one, but Blaznek answered with a blast from the point two minutes later to get the two-goal advantage back during a Mudbugs powerplay. Levesque's second goal of the game pulled Mississippi back within one at 5-4 with 1:09 remaining, but DeCaro (6-1-0) would not be beaten again as the ‚¬ËœBugs closed out the victory.

The Mudbugs outshot the RiverKings 37-34 and finished 1 for 5 on the powerplay, while Mississippi was 1 for 6 with the man-advantage. Larry Sterling (3-3-0) stopped 32 shots for the ‚¬ËœKings.

Following the completion of five games in six days, the Mudbugs will now have four days off before facing the Allen Americans for the fifth time this year Friday night at 7:30 pm at the Allen Events Center.

The ‚¬ËœBugs will then travel to Odessa on Saturday before returning home for another match-up with Mississippi on Friday, December 10 at 7:05 at the CenturyTel Center. Mini-plans and group ticket packages for all home games are available now through the Mudbugs office at 752-BUGS. Individual tickets are on sale through Ticketmaster at 318-741-9700, online at www.ticketmaster.com or at the CenturyTel Center main box office.

Season and group tickets are on sale by calling 318-752-BUGS (2847) or by visiting our website at www.mudbugshockey.com.



Central Hockey League Stories from November 28, 2010


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