Brahmas beat the Wichita Thunder 4-2

Jason Deitsch has a goal and two assists in his first game back with the bulls

The Texas Brahmas won their fourth in a row and improved their road record to 3-2-1 after beating the Wichita Thunder tonight at the Kansas Coliseum.

The Thunder played aggressively in the first minutes of the game but were unable to solve Brett Jaeger. During an early Wichita powerplay, Jordan Cameron missed an open net opportunity after being stymied by a Thunder defenseman.

The Brahmas opened up the scoring at the 13:21 mark. After the puck was deflected off of the glass by Brett Jaeger, Pete Rouleau received a pass from Matt Hanson and took it down the left side of the ice on a breakaway. Rouleau beat the Thunder defender and put the puck to the left of Krister Toews, scoring his fifth goal of the season. Brett Jaeger and Matt Hanson were credited with the assist.

Jason Duda had an opportunity to even the score a couple of minutes later but was the victim of incidental contact and ended up falling into the net, landing on Brett Jaeger, the puck rolling out of play.

After Jordan Hack was called for tripping Jordan Cameron, the Brahmas scored again on the man advantage. Jason Deitsch scored his first goal of the season, taking the puck from the Brahmas defensive zone all the way up the ice and with a defender on his left and his right, centered the puck past Toews. Grant Jacobsen and Craig Minard were credited with the assist.

The Wichita offense tried everything they could muster to beat Jaeger but the Brahmas' netminder was able to hold them off, stopping all 10 shots sent his way. The Brahmas killed two Thunder powerplays and although the Thunder had a 10-2 shot advantage in the first ten minutes, the Brahmas offense fired back and evened the shots at 10 before the period was over.

After an action-filled start to the second period, Thunder forward Chris Greene took advantage of a turnover and ripped one past the right side of Brett Jaeger at the 10:32 mark, making it 2-1. He was assisted by Chris Tarkir and Jordan Hack. Five minutes later, after a turnover in the neutral zone led to a two-on-one for the Brahmas, Jason Deitsch passed the puck to Scott Sheppard who slapped it past Krister Toews, giving the bulls a two goal advantage. The Thunder outshot the Brahmas 8-7 in the period.

Matt Hanson had a shot hit the cross bar early in the third period, but it was Wichita's Pascal Bedard who was able to get one into the net on a powerplay at the 10:12 mark. Bedard, with his back to Brett Jaeger, backhanded the puck past the Brahmas netminder giving the Thunder their 14th powerplay goal in 13 games. Scott Rozendal and Brad Thompson were credited with the assist.

Scott Sheppard gave the Brahmas their third two-goal lead of the night when he tipped the puck over the goal line at the 15:04 mark. Jason Deitsch and Mike Vellinga assisted. The Brahmas were able to hold off a 17-5 Thunder shot advantage in the period to win the game with a final score of 4-2. The Brahmas improve to 8-3-1 on the season. With 17 points, the Brahmas are edging closer to the Laredo Bucks (who have 18) for the lead in the Southeast Division.

Brett Jaeger stopped 33 of 35 shots and improved his record to 6-1-1.

The Brahmas went one for two on the powerplay and killed four of five Wichita opportunities.

Penalties were minimal for both teams with the Brahmas called five times for 10 minutes and the Thunder called twice for four minutes. The Brahmas remain the least penalized team in the league with 230 minutes.

Jason Deitsch received the first star for his three points in his first game back with the Brahmas after a 10-game stint with the AHL's Houston Aeros. Scott Sheppard received the second star for his two goals tonight.

You can view the box score here

The Brahmas return home to the NYTEX Sports Centre for their first match-up against the 3-7-1 Tulsa Oilers on Saturday night.