For the Odessa Jackalopes, third time was the charm.
Playing in overtime for the third consecutive game, the Jackalopes were able to get the win as Alex Konovalov’s goal gave Odessa a 2-1 victory over Lone Star Thursday at Ector County Coliseum.
Playing against the North American Hockey League South Division leaders, the Jackalopes moved to 5-5-2 for the season.
The Brahmas fell to 13-3-1.
The Jackalopes were coming off two consecutive losses to Shreveport last week, both in overtime.
“I thought we came out with a lot of energy,” Odessa coach Jason Fortier said. “We had the puck in their zone for most of the third period. It was a pretty physical affair. It’s the way we want to play at home in front of our fans.”
The Jackalopes finished with 31 shots total while the Brahmas had 24.
“It was really special to get the win tonight,” Konovalov said. “The crowd was really buzzing tonight. It was great to see the guys come through. We showed a lot of resilience and courage.”
Neither team could do much at the start of the game as the Jackalopes and the Brahmas were both held scoreless in the first period.
The Jackalopes had numerous opportunities to score and nearly closed out the opening period with the lead but couldn’t get on the board and Odessa did manage to outshoot the Brahmas 17-6 in the first 20 minutes.
The Jackalopes kept things pretty disciplined early in the game.
Lone Star had two penalties in the first period while Odessa wouldn’t get penalized until seven minutes into the second period when Isaiah Huempfner was sent to the box for a holding.
The Brahmas nearly scored on the power play but were denied as Odessa goalie Connor Hasley deflected the shot and kept the game leveled.
The Jackalopes’ patience would eventually pay off when Lucas Coon scored with 2:27 left in the second period for a 1-0 lead with an assist by Ben Doherty.
Odessa spent the first half of the third period by fending off several chances from Lone Star.
As the final minutes continued tick away, the Jackalopes continued hang to their one-goal advantage even as the Brahmas kept up the pressure.
It wasn’t until there were four minutes left in the game when Lone Star found its equalizer when Andrew DeCarlo scored with an assist from Stefan Miklakos and Mitchell Digby.
The scored remained tied at 1-1 as the third period expired and both teams went into overtime.
However, the Jackalopes came out firing in overtime and it wasn’t long until Konovalov’s goal came, scoring two minutes into the period.
“I think we’ve had that in our last three overtimes,” Fortier said. “We had a penalty shot and our guys did a good job of being resilient. They still believe they can win games even when giving up leads in games.”
