Oklahoma City Blazers 2, Texas Brahmas 1
Doug Sauter wasn't concerned about this trip. Prior to the game, he sat in the visiting coaches room casually working out a Sudoku puzzle. Assistant Coach Chris Dashney made the trip to the bleachers to take notes during the warm-ups. When the time came, the great one made his way to the visitor's bench, his team took to the ice and the rest is now history. For the third time in the month of November, the Oklahoma City Blazers outplayed, outshot and outscored the Texas Brahmas.
The Brahmas looked out of sorts for the first two periods, lacking in fundamentals. Poor passing, few takeaways, lax defense. The frustration on Dan Wildfong's face was immeasurable. After opening a Costco-sized can of whoop-a** in the locker room after the second period, the real Texas Brahmas emerged. The third period reflected a strong performance by the bulls, but it was too little, too late. Despite an aggressive, fast-skating and penalty-free period of Brahmas hockey and a Greg McConnell score to prevent the shut-out, the Brahmas took their second home loss and afterwards, a long bus ride to Bossier City.
"We didn’t play 60 minutes, we played 20," Texas coach Dan Wildfong told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "Against a good team you have to play 60 minutes. You can’t take shifts off.
The Blazers have handed the Brahmas their only losses (4-2, 7-3, 2-1) in their last eight games. Watching them play in person, it's obvious why they're a 30-point team. It's obvious why they're being considered as an AHL franchise. And it's obvious that success for the Brahmas this season will require solving a team like the Blazers.
The game began with both teams playing aggressively. The skating was fast and the hitting was hard. Rookie forward Cam Doull provided all the offense for the Blazers with his two even-strength goals in the first period.
The first goal came at the 9:51 mark when Ted Vandermeer worked the puck from the corner to Doull who was stationed in front of David Cacciola. Doull quickly put the puck into the net while Cacciola was screened by a fellow teammate. Jeff MacDermid was also credited with the assist.
Later in the period, MacDermid and Brian Passmore combined to place the puck in Doull's path and with a long blast, the Blazers were up 2-0. The Blazers outshot the Brahmas 11-6 in the period.
The second period provided a lot of action but no scoring. The Blazers outshot the Brahmas again, this time 13-7 but both Cacciola and Doug Groenestege were perfect.
In the third period, Greg McConnell finally put the Brahmas on the scoreboard with the deflection of a Grant Jacobson shot from the right-wing boards. McConnell was positioned by Groenestege and was able to tip it by at the 7:24 mark. Jordan Cameron and Mike Vellinga assisted. The Brahmas had several opportunities to score in the remainder of the period but the Blazers defense was on fire and they held the Brahmas to one, earning the win and improving to 14-1-2.
Doug Groenestege stopped 30 shots and earned the win. He is now at 5-0-0 on the season. David Cacciola dropped to 3-4-0.
Lets talk about some positives. Cash did well in the net. Yes, he was a little shaky in the first period but was excellent for the next 40 minutes.
The Brahmas faced the number one penalty-killers in the league but also held their own. Neither side managed to score on the powerplay.
The Brahmas remain the least penalized team in the league, averaging just 18.25 minutes per game. Last night, they were only assessed 5 minors for 10 minutes.
Greg McConnell was given the third star of the game for his first goal of the season.
You can view the box score here
You can view photos from the game here
The Brahmas take on the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs tonight at the CenturyTel Center. The game starts at 7:05pm and will be broadcast of Nifty-TV.
Photo Credit: Robert Keith
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