BOSSIER CITY, La. – The Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs gave the visiting Colorado Eagles a lesson in humility Friday night as they dominated the home ice with a 7-2 win in Game 5 of the Presidents’ Cup Finals. 
The Mudbugs now lead the best-of-seven series 3-2 and will have an opportunity to clinch the Central Hockey League Championship when the series shifts back to Colorado for Game 6 on Wednesday. David Rutherford, back from a one-game suspension, recorded a hat trick as part of a four-point night in which the Mudbugs tallied five straight goals and Ryan Munce stopped 31 of 33 shots to earn the win in his first start of the series. Colorado was assessed four straight minors in the first frame; the first called on Steve Haddon for high sticking Rutherford at the 6:32 mark. Rutherford provided the entertainment while Haddon watched from the penalty box, stickhandling his way through the offensive zone before firing the puck over the shoulder of Kyle Jones from the right circle at the 7:23 mark. Just over four minutes later, on the second Bossier-Shreveport power play, Travis Clayton and Justin Aikins combined to get the puck to Rutherford, who backhanded a shot into the net to give the ‘Bugs a 2-0 lead. Five different Eagles players sent six consecutive shots at Munce to close out the final 6:17 of the frame but were unable to score. The Eagles held a narrow 13-12 shot advantage through the first twenty, but went into the locker room down by two goals. The Mudbugs added three consecutive goals in the second period to take a 5-0 lead. Rutherford’s centering pass to Nick Layton ended badly for Jones, who was unable to stop the resulting shot and the ‘Bugs were up 3-0 at the 5:20 mark. Jim Jorgensen made it 4-0 at 11:37 with his shot from the left circle that made its way through traffic and past Jones, who was done for the evening after stopping 19 of 23 shots through 31:37 of play. An drew Penner took over in defense of the Eagles net, but proved to be an easy solve. Kyle Peto lost the puck inside his own blue line and Layton recovered, firing the puck into the net, unassisted from the right circle to make it 5-0 at the 12:26 mark. Jamie Milam sent the only shot on goal for the remainder of the period, which was more about penalties than scoring chances. The Mudbugs had a 14-6 shot advantage after the second twenty expired and took a comfortable lead into the locker room after 40 minutes of play. The Eagles prevented the shut out when Scott May made his way down the left wing and sent a cross-ice pass to Dan Sullivan, who tapped it in at the 4:18 mark. Less than three minutes later, Rutherford completed the hat trick when he skated down the left wing and fired a shot from the top of the left circle, beating Penner to make it a 6-1 contest. Justin Aikins took advantage of an Eagles turnover inside their own blue line and made it 7-1 with a shot from between the circles with 3:46 remaining. The Eagles kept up the attack, out shooting Bossier-Shreveport 15-10 in the final frame and it was Eagles rookie forward A.J. Hau, who recorded his first post-season tally when he sent in a rebound from Adam Chorneyko’s shot 1:05 later, provinding the final 7-2 margin . Ryan Munce (3-2) earned his second win in as many nights, stopping 32 of 34 shots faced. Kyle Jones (4-5) took the loss after making 19 saves on 23 shots in the first 31:37, while Penner turned aside ten shots and gave up three goals in relief. Bossier-Shreveport out shot Colorado 36-34 and scored on 2 of 7 power plays, while the Eagles went 0 for 3 on the man-advantage. T he teams will have four days to rest as the series shifts to the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland, Colorado. The Mudbugs will then have a chance to clinch the President’s Cup Championship Wednesday in Game 6, which is set for 8:05 pm Central time. Contact the writer at robert.keith@prohockeynews.com
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