Wild, Jackalopes split series

ODESSA, Texas - The Odessa Jackalopes scored two third-period goals Saturday and held on for a 2-1 victory over the Wenatchee Wild at the Ector County Coliseum in Odessa, Texas. The win allowed the Jackalopes to force a split in the series with the Wild, who won the first game of the series Friday, 4-1.

Parker Johnson (Bloomington, Ill.) put the Wild up 1-0 with 5:37 remaining in the first period when he lit the lamp on a short-handed chance. Taking the puck in neutral ice off of a Trevor Stewart (East Wenatchee, Wash.) clear, Johnson raced in on a breakaway. His backhander was stopped by Jackalopes goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, but the rebound hit a defender and popped into the cage for Johnson's third goal of the 2011-12 campaign.

The Wild maintained a 1-0 lead through the second period despite having to kill off a 2-man power play situation. The Jackalopes, however, knotted the score 6:51 into the third period on a goal by Josh Obregon. Lawrence Cornellier and Tyler Minx assisted.

Odessa scored the eventual game-winner with a little over seven minutes remaining in regulation on Tyller Robert's backhander from the slot off of a pass from Matthew Williams. Tyler Poulsen also assisted.

Hellebuyck made 37 stops on 38 shots to earn the win. Wild goaltender Greg Lewis (Mars, Pa.) turned away 21 of the 23 shots that the Jackalopes got on target. Neither team scored a power play goal. The Wild went 0-for-5 while the Jackalopes went 0-for-6.

The Wild (13-8-4) will play an exhibition game against the Topeka RoadRunners in Dodge City, Kan., on Wednesday. Faceoff is at 5:05 p.m. (PST). The Wild and RoadRunners will then play a 2-game regular-season series in Topeka next weekend (Dec. 16-17). Both of those games will begin at 5:05 p.m. (PST).