2/10 BUGS vs. ODESSA (W, 4-0)

RECAP: THIS WAS BEST GAME OF THE YEAR, NO JOKE

It's easy to throw "this was the best game of the year" around after wins like this, but tonight the moniker stands true.

Every line, every defensive duo (taking a gulp Mr. Hebert) and the goaltender played a great game against a first-place Odessa squad. However, do not underestimate what the loss of Don Margettie meant to the Jackalopes on Friday at the CenturyTel Center. He is a leader and it was clear Odessa didn't have much leadership tonight.

If you're a Mudbugs fan, the best thing to take away from tonight was the play of Ryan Manitowich. he scored for the first time in more than a month and his line with Spurr and Brassard was phenominal.

If that line continues to roll ... watch out!

I said it earlier, but saw a few people at Buffalo Wild Wings tonight who asked me ... Chris Shaw did NOT record an assist tonight. It will be changed to Craig Minard, who, oh by the way, is on FIRE. A plus-16 for the season???? It wasn't long ago he was in the negatives. What a season for Mr. Minzy.

MANNING GETS IN THE ACT; BUGS WIN 4-0

Blair Manning finished the scoring and the Mudbugs completed one of their best efforts of the season to down Odessa 4-0.

More later.

TIME: 10:11 p.m.

MANITOWICH GIVES BUGS A 3-0 LEAD.

Ryan Manitowich scored his first goal in 13 games to give Bossier-Shreveport a three-goal advantage lead midway through the third period.

This is a confident hockey club right now. Every line is playing well, and that's scary for the opposition.

TIME: 9:07 p.m.

LIGHTBODY VS. EWASKO

Quade Lightbody is not small by any stretch of the imagination. But in a second-period fight he gave up FIVE inches to Odessa's Jeff Ewasko. The gigantic Jackalopes forward is 6-foot-7, but Lightbody controlled the matchup. There was no takedown, but Ewasko's jersey was over his head when the fight was stopped.

Lightbody was coming to the defense of Dan Wildfong, who became tangled up with Ewasko behind the Odessa net. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Quade is the first Mudbug to jump to the defense of his teammates.

TIME: 8:19 p.m.

2-0 AFTER 20 MINUTES

Brett Smith and Scott Sheppard have given the Mudbugs a two-goal lead. Sheppard's goal was downright disgusting. Two, maybe three dekes sent Gorman flying and Sheppard calmly sent the puck past the line.

TIME: 7:41 p.m.

BUGS SCORE FIRST; SHAW SO CLOSE, BUT NO

Brett Smith took an excellent pass from Scott Sheppard and beat Odessa goaltender Mike Gorman to give the Mudbugs a 1-0 lead. Sheppard and Chris Shaw were announced at the CTC as garnering assists. Unfortunately for Shaw, he did not collect his first point of the season. Craig Minard should have been credited with the second assist.

Shaw remains the only CHL player with more than 20 games played and no points. He had played 28 entering tonight.

TIME: 7:28 p.m.

SHOT COUNTER DUDE ... WHEN YOU HIT THE GOAL POST, THERE IS NOT A SHOT ON GOAL.

Chris Brassard was credited with a shot on goal (and a goal from the cannon guy) when he hit the crossbar in the first period.

TIME: 7:15 p.m.

GORMAN VS. CACCIOLA TONIGHT

The Jackalopes' Mike Gorman will face Mudbugs rookie David Cacciola in net tonight as the Mudbugs (24-13-5) take on Odessa (25-13-5).

TIME: 6:36 p.m.

GAMEDAY

Outlook

Teams meet for second and final time this season. Chad Spurr scored twice Jan. 27 to lead the Mudbugs to a 5-4 victory at the Ector County Coliseum. Bossier-Shreveport outshot the Jackalopes 21-6 in the second period that night before the Jacks turned the tables for a 21-6 advantage in the final period ... The Mudbugs have earned at least one point in 13 of their past 14 games (11-1-2) and are riding a five-game overall winning streak ... Defenseman Jason Basile will miss his fifth straight game tonight due to injury after playing the first 226 games of his career (all with the Mudbugs) ... Scott Sheppard makes his second start since returning from the AHL.
Season Series (Mudbugs lead 1-0)

Date Score Site GWG

Jan. 27 Bugs 5-4 ECC Chad Spurr

Mudbugs statistics

# PLAYERS, POS GP G A PTS +/- PIM

10 Dan Wildfong, LW 42 17 29 46 +7 188

14 Chris Brassard, LW 40 10 28 38 +8 62

16 Blair Manning, C 42 4 32 36 +12 34

25 Chad Spurr, RW 40 11 23 34 +4 55

41 Brett Smith, C 42 19 14 33 -6 42

29 Ryan Manitowich, LW 42 13 13 26 +2 18

32 Scott Sheppard, RW 16 18 6 24 +5 26

11 Jason Campbell, C 37 8 14 22 +3 32

22 Craig Minard, D 36 3 18 21 +12 30

44 Dale Lupul, D 39 5 13 18 +15 60

24 Jason Basile, D 38 7 9 16 +10 42

23 Milan Vodrazka, C 31 6 6 12 +9 18

20 Shane Palahicky, RW 41 4 7 11 +1 37

8 Quade Lightbody, D 42 3 8 11 +5 98

18 Jeremy Downs, D 29 1 3 4 +6 22

28 (IR)Martin Stuchlik, F 22 2 1 3 0 16

42 Chris Shaw, D 28 0 0 0 -4 127

TOTALS 42 132 230 362 +20 977

GOALTENDERS

# GOALIES W L OTL SO GAA SV%

34 Ken Carroll 15 7 4 4 2.17 .925

1 David Cacciola 6 3 1 1 2.85 .907

TOTALS 24 13 5 5 2.67 .909

Jackalopes statistics

# PLAYERS, POS GP G A PTS +/- PIM

43 Sebastien Thinel, RW 43 28 36 64 +15 42

10 Dominic Leveille, RW 43 18 37 55 +10 50

25 Matt Cressman, C 43 20 16 36 +10 59

22 John Kozoriz, F 42 17 18 35 +8 60

9 Mike Rutter, C 28 11 22 33 +3 44

6 Scott Hillman, D 43 7 25 32 +4 41

18 Mike Carter, RW 41 9 22 31 +3 38

23 Don Margettie, RW 37 9 20 29 +8 126

24 Pascal Bedard, D 43 5 16 21 -5 63

41 Adam Loncan, F 41 10 9 19 +2 16

15 Paul Davies, LW 42 8 8 16 +3 55

16 Jeff Ewasko, D 34 6 8 14 0 193

17 Andrew Davis, D 41 0 11 11 -3 78

12 Chris Brannen, D 42 3 6 9 +15 36

37 Jamie Lovell, D 43 1 5 6 +17 29

5 Josh Legge, D 43 0 6 6 +4 94

TOTALS 43 152 267 419 +25 1061

GOALTENDING

# GOALIES W L OTL SO GAA SV%

40 Mike Gorman 19 9 2 2 2.46 .928

31 Derek Dolson 6 3 1 0 2.95 .915

TOTALS 25 13 5 2 2.95 .917