Mudbugs Hockey Blog

Listless play by one team, plus a hot goaltender by the other will almost always equal a loss. The now 6-32-3 Wichita Thunder defeated the 23-15-4 Bossier Shreveport Mudbugs 4-2.  How can this happen? In our own Barn nevertheless.

It’s called playing down to your opponent’s level, getting bit by the junkyard dog, not respecting your opponent, or just the plain and simple fact that the Mudbugs were just flat out flat. Was it because they hadn’t played since this past Saturday night? I don’t buy that excuse, and never will.

There are many reason why teams win games and why they lose them. When the final horn blows, if you’re on the losing end, you must ask yourself, did they play anywhere close to 60 minutes? Tonight they did not. They played maybe 20 minutes, and that won’t get the job done against anyone. Even the worst of teams.

It took all they way to the 14:32 mark of the second frame before someone cracked the scoreboard. Wichita’s Joel Hansen scored his 9th from the right of the crease for the 1-0 lead.  The Mudbugs fought with the referee, claiming their netminder John DeCaro had been interfered with on the play, but their efforts fell on deaf ears (or is that a blind eye?).

The Thunder increased their lead to 2-0 with less than three minutes left to play in the period.  Shane Foster deflected a pass from the corner into the netting behind a surprised Mudbug netminder. Shots on goal after 40 minutes favored Wichita by a 25-18 margin.

The Mudbugs were finally able to crack the goose egg at 5:56 of the 3rd, when defensemen David Pszenyczny fired the puck from the point with Travis Clayton redirecting the shot into the far corner of the net for his 14th of the season.

The Thunder claimed their two goal advantage at 11:18 with Jim Jorgensen 5th of the season. The Mudbugs closed the gap to one for a second time, with less than 2 minutes to play as Tyrel Lucas tipped in his 12th of the season. The assists went to David Rutherford and Jeff Kryzakos, and was scored with the extra attacker.

However, it was just too little too late as the Mudbugs tried to score a second time with their netminder parked on the bench in favor of the extra attacker. But all they could do was watch their hopes slide into the vacated 4’ by 6’ net by Tomas Klempa with just three seconds on the clock.

This will be a loss the Mudbugs will have to toss aside into the “we stunk and got what we deserved” trash can. They have less than 24 hrs. to prepare for the Texas Brahmas. A foe the Mudbugs will have to play much better if they want end their 5 game homestand on a positive note.

It can be a good thing to get right back out there the very next night. Maybe the Bugs will play the role of the mad old junkyard dog this time. They certainly should be upset with themselves, and have no doubt that they are. If they can win tonight, then the loss the night before won’t sting as bad as it once did. If not, then it may spell a heavy burden on them as they hit road on grueling three game road trip.

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