Tonight the Ice Wolves concluded their weekend series against the Jackalopes. The Ice Wolves were coming off a dominant win the night before (4-1) and looking to bust out the brooms for the third time this season. Entering tonight’s game the Ice Wolves had a season series record of 2-2-0-1 against Odessa. The final weekend series between these two teams will be in Odessa on Mar. 27-28.
The Ice Wolves got out of the gate quickly thanks to Griffen Sanom (8) going bar down 1:21 into the opening period. Later in the period, Liam Ovington took a shot from the left point that worked its way through traffic and past Andrew Takacs. Making it his first NAHL goal. The Ice Wovles finished the period with 14 shots. As for Odessa they recorded 10 on Henrik Laursen.
In the middle period the Ice Wolves added to their lead but not until there was less than two minutes remaining. While shorthanded, Griffen Sanom was able to win a hard fought battle in the neutral zone that allowed Jackson Wille (7) to go on a breakaway. Wille was able to wrist it past the blocker hand of Takacs, giving New Mexico a 3-0 lead. Odessa had a few scoring opportunities in the period but Henrik Laursen stood on his head denying all 11 he saw that period. The Ice Wolves headed into the locker with a total of 22 shots after 40 minutes of play.
In the final period of regulation, Odessa was able to cut the lead in half after Gramm McCormack (3) scored on the power play. Just like the night before, as time was expiring the Jackalopes pulled Takacs to put out the extra attacker. Once again the Ice Wolves capitalized on the empty net, however this time it was Spencer Rudrud (10) that scored. As the sellout crowd counted it down, the Ice Wolves bench was erupting as the horn sounded giving them their third weekend sweep in franchise history.
Their win also tied their season high point streak at four. New Mexico outshot Odessa 37-33 when it was all said and done. The Ice Wolves improve to 12-29-2-3 (29pts) and are eight points out of fifth place, currently held by Corpus Christi. The Ice Wolves will look to continue their unbeaten streak on home ice in the year 2020 (4-0), as they face the Topeka Pilots next weekend.