Texas Brahmas beat the Mudbugs 5-1

Brahmas improve to 11-5-1 with decisive road win

The Texas Brahmas soundly defeated the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs tonight at the CenturyTel Center in 5-1 rout highlighted by four powerplay goals. The bulls looked like a completely different team than the one that took a loss last night at home against the Oklahoma City Blazers. The Brahmas record against the Mudbugs is now 4-1 and tonight's score matched the Mudbug's winning score the last time the two teams played at the CenturyTel Center on opening night.

The first period was filled with plenty of special teams play. After a lot of rough play to start the period, Matt Hanson was called for interference giving the Mudbugs the first powerplay opportunity of the night. But less than a minute later, it was the Brahmas who put the first point on the board. Grant Jacobsen took a pass from Mike Vellinga and then held it long enough for Justin Kinnunen to come in and punch the puck past Kenny Carroll at the 6:29 mark for a short-handed goal.

Despite being outshot 16-12, the Brahmas held the Mudbugs scoreless for the rest of the period. Brett Jaeger was magnificent, stopping shots on five Bossier-Shreveport powerplays including a four on three and a five on three advantage.

There was a delay to the start of the second period due to a mechanical issue with the Zamboni which needed to be towed off the ice by a promotional Dodge Ram pickup truck.

The Mudbugs began the second period with 58 seconds left on their fifth powerplay but remained unable to solve Brett Jaeger.

A melee started when Jason Deitsch crashed the net at the 14:09 mark and ended up with Dale Lupul on top of him. Lupul started throwing punches and Quade Lightbody came in as well. Deitsch was rescued by Tyler Skworchinski and Scott Sheppard. In the end, Deitsch was called for roughing and both Lupul (interference) and Lightbody (roughing) were sent to the box as well creating a 4 on three powerplay for the Brahmas. 22 seconds later, Mudbug defenseman Dave Pszenyczny was called for slashing and the bulls found themselves with a five on three opportunity.

The bulls capitalized on the situation when Travis Clayton knocked a centering pass away to the corner where it was picked up by Jordan Cameron who fed it to Scott Sheppard. Marc Belanger was in position and took the pass from Sheppard and fed it into the net at the 14:49 mark to give the Brahmas a 2-0 lead.

Brett Jaeger stopped all seven of the 'Bugs shots to stay perfect through two periods. Jaeger had some truly remarkable saves through 40 minutes. The Brahmas defensemen prevented several more shots by crowding the shooting zone and deflecting several Mudbugs attempts. The Brahmas special teams killed two more Mudbug powerplays for a total of seven on the night.

Dale Lupul finally got the Mudbugs on the board at the 8:33 mark in the third period. Mike Vellinga was called for interference and during a powerplay faceoff, Brett Smith won the draw, put the puck in front of Lupul who was able to catch Brett Jaeger off guard and the Mudbugs narrowed it to one.

Marc Belanger scored his second of the night at the 11:02 mark after the Mudbugs gave the puck away in the offensive zone. It was an unassisted goal. Belanger and Chris Brassard got into it immediately and out of the mix came Mark Carragher and Brett Smith who dropped the gloves. Smith handled Carragher quickly and then Brett Angel went after Belanger who wanted nothing to do with it. Carragher and Smith received five-minute fighting majors and Angel received two minutes for roughing.

The Brahmas got another five on three opportunity at the 13:44 mark when J.R. Bria was called for slashing and Neil Clark was called for roughing. Scott Sheppard scored 26 seconds later making the score 4-1. Jordan Cameron and Jason Deitsch were credited with the assist. It was the Brahmas' 2nd five on three goal of the night.

Greg McConnell made it 5-1 on another powerplay opportunity at the 18:37 mark off a feed from defenseman Eric Lundberg. Jordan Cameron was credited with his third assist of the night. The Brahmas held off the 'Bugs for the remainder of the period and took the win, improving their road record to 4-3-1.

Brett Jaeger had a tremendous night stopping 37 of 38 shots and improved his record to 7-1-1.

Scott Sheppard received the third star for a goal and an assist on the night. Brett Jaeger received the second star for his performance in the net and Justin Kinnunen received the first star for his shorthanded goal in the first period.

You can view the box score here

The Brahmas travel to Tulsa for their next game against the Tulsa Oilers on Tuesday night.