OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma Warriors scored three goals in the final 7:32 of the third period to force overtime before Max Dronen punctuated the 4-3 comeback win over the Shreveport Mudbugs Saturday night at Blazers Ice Centre.
Shreveport opened the scoring late in the first period with the only goal through the first 40 minutes of play and the Warriors took an 16-9 shot advantage to the second intermission.
Action picked up at the beginning of the third period when the Mudbugs made it 2-0 at 1:47. Shreveport then padded its lead with a penalty-shot goal at 10:29. The Warriors started their comeback at 12:28 when William Ahlrik forced a turnover to Hunter Jones, shorthanded. Jones spun and fired a shot into the top corner of the net to get the home crowd on its feet. One minute and 59 seconds later the powerplay pulled Oklahoma to within one goal. Joey Delgreco and William Lawson-Body cycled the puck to the front of the net, and Drew Sutton slapped in the contested biscuit from the slot to make it a 3-2 game. With time winding down and the Warriors hemmed in their own zone, Delgreco flipped the puck in the air through the neutral zone and Kaden Nelson caught it up ice. Nelson slipped by the Mudbugs defense and potted the game-tying goal above the netminder at 17:19 of the third period.
After much of a back-and-forth overtime period, Owen Baumgartner carried the puck from his own zone to the side of the net at the other end of the ice and sent a pass to Dronen, who buried the game-winning goal from the slot to secure the 4-3 comeback win.
The Warriors are back in action Thursday, November 3 for an 11:00 a.m. puck drop against the Amarillo Wranglers in Amarillo.