Ice Wolves fall to the Mudbugs, 8-2

Dec 9, 2019

This past Saturday the Ice Wolves concluded their 12-day road trip against the Mudbugs. Shreveport won the previous night 3-1. It was also Josh Graziano’s last junior hockey game. These two teams will not play one another again until Mar. 13-14 at the Outpost.

Game two started out completely different from game one. Both teams switched goalies meaning Henrik Laursen got the start for New Mexico. As for Shreveport they went with the ‘November Goalie of the Month’ and currently the best goalie in the league, Richie Parent. The first period was an opener to many as no one was expecting the Mudbugs to put up three goals in the first five minutes of the action. After letting in three goals on seven shots Laursen was pulled from the net and replacing him was Graziano. Shreveport would go one to score two more goals before the end of the period. Making it their most ever goals scored in a period for them this season. With less than ten seconds left on the clock Alex Dominique (5) score on the power play to draw New Mexico within four after the first period concluded. The Mudbugs out shot the Ice Wolves 18-8.

Shreveport continued to dominate in the middle period as they took a season-high 22 shots. Two of those shots beat Graziano with one of them coming from a shorthanded opportunity. Also, with their seventh goal it marked the most for Shreveport in a game this season. While the game was very lopsided both penalty boxes were seeing an equal number of players. On Friday there was a total of 72 combined penalty minutes. In the middle period on Saturday there was a total of 30 penalty minutes between the two South Division rivals. Unfortunately, the Ice Wolves did not manage to score in the middle period putting them down 7-1 after 40 minutes of play. After the second period Shreveport had 40 shots and New Mexico had 13.

In the final period of regulation Philip Ekberg (6) was able to beat Parent for his second goal of the weekend. Pulling his team within five with 19 minutes left in regulation. Shreveport would go on to add one more goal while shorthanded for the third time this weekend. Doubling their season total from when they started the weekend. The Ice Wolves entered the weekend having only allowed three short-handed goals all season. That eighth goal also marked the most in franchise history for the Mudbugs in a single game and their biggest winning margin of the season. It was the third time this season New Mexico had given up eight goals in a 60-minute span (Oct. 5 vs. LOS & Nov. 2 vs. FAI). Shreveport ended the night with 49 shots (season high) as for New Mexico they recorded 19.

Starting this Friday, the Ice Wolves and the Bulls will play one another six-straight times. This weekend three of those six games will be played as New Mexico heads to Amarillo for the first time this season to play a 3-in-3 series. The next home games for the Ice Wolves will be from Dec. 20-21 (vs. AMA). If you would like to secure your tickets ahead of time click here.