Texas Brahmas face red hot Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs

Longtime rivalry continues with first visit of the season

The Texas Brahmas will face their longtime rivals, the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs in an afternoon game at the NYTEX Sports Centre today. The Mudbugs are coming off a 3-2 shootout victory against the Rocky Mountain Rage last night while the Brahmas are looking to rebound from back-to-back losses against the Oklahoma City Blazers and the Odessa Jackalopes.

The Mudbugs dominated the Brahmas at every turn at their last meeting, a 5-1 win to open the season at the CenturyTel Center. They have a 7-1-0 record and are 3-0-0 on the road. On special teams, they lead the league in the powerplay with a 26.56 percentage and also lead in the penalty kill with a 91.07 percentage. Rookie goaltender Ryan Mior, 21, is second in the league with a 2.07 GAA and seventh with a .920 save percentage.

The Mudbugs have been plagued by injuries early in the season. Defenseman Clay Thoring, center Brett Smith, and goaltender Kenny Carroll are all listed as injured. In addition, Evgeny Saidachev is expected to miss at least a month with a leg injury as a result of a leg injury in Friday night's game against Tulsa. Despite the injuries, the 'Bugs have plenty of weapons to fire against the Brahmas and head coach Scott Muscutt is sure to push his boys hard to get the win.

For the Brahmas, a morale-building win is needed both for the team and for the fans. The team played hard in their last two contests but have been unable to mount a sufficient defense against either the Blazers or the Jackalopes. The Mudbugs are always a tough opponent and a win today will definitely have to be earned.

The game begins today at 3:05pm and will be broadcast on Nifty-TV.

Image Credit: Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs