Texas Brahmas travel to Wichita to silence the Thunder

Bulls look to improve on their road record

The 7-3-1 Texas Brahmas are on the road again for the first of three meetings with the Wichita Thunder this season. The game will take place on Friday night at the Britt Brown Arena in Valley Center, Kansas.

Last season, the teams met five times, with the Brahmas winning four and outscoring the Thunder 22-12. The one Brahmas loss took place at the Kansas Coliseum. The Thunder ended up finishing the season 20-42-2; their worst record in franchise history.

At 4-7-1, the Thunder have had a rough start this season. Rookie head coach Brent Bilodeau is taking things one game at a time, but with a 1-3-1 record at home this season, he is trying to find a way to light a fire and get his team motivated. Bilodeau has been vocal about his players showing little emotion and their lack of consistency.

A persistent problem continues for the Thunder who have failed to reach 30 shots in regulation in their last seven games. They are second to last in the league with 311 shots, averaging just 26 per game. The Thunder offense has shown flashes of potential, scoring five or more goals three times in 12 games. The Thunder reached that total just six times in 64 games last year.

The Thunder has struggled late in games, getting outscored 15-7 in the third period. That's the second-worst differential in the league (Tulsa has been outscored 15-5). They have also lost three straight home games, giving up 16 goals in the process. Their only win at home was against the Rocky Mountain Rage. They have lost five of their last six games.

The Thunder have had issues with its defense but will get some help with the addition of Andrew Davis, who will make his debut with the team on Friday. Although their penalty-killing percentage is 78.65 (13th in the league), the Thunder killed 14 of 16 power plays (87.5 percent) in two road games this past weekend.

Rookie goaltender Krister Toews has a 3.58 GAA (14th in the league) and a .896 save percentage (11th in the league). Last week though, his save percentage was .952, stopping 80 of 84 shots. He is 4-3-1 on the season.

The Brahmas are battling the Laredo Bucks and the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees for the top slot in the Southeast Division. They are coming off three straight home wins and are looking to improve on their road record which stands at 2-2-1.

The bulls have been given an offensive shot in the arm with the return of forward Jordan Cameron who scored two goals and an assist in two games since returning from Germany.

The Brahmas will be without forwards Lance Galbraith, who is on team suspension and Topher Scott, who was granted a leave of absense by the league. Back for the Brahmas will be Jason Deitsch who played 10 games with the Houston Aeros (AHL).

The game begins at 7:05pm and can be seen on Nifty-TV.