The Texas Brahmas repeated history tonight, losing a two-game series against the Mississippi RiverKings at the DeSoto Civic Center. The Brahmas were defeated 4-3 in a shootout after a magnificent game of hockey by both teams. Last December, the RiverKings took both games in the series (6-3, 3-1). Despite the loss, the Brahmas played well tonight by all accounts and earned a point for their efforts.
"Our effort was there," Dan Wildfong told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "If you don’t give effort, you’re going to get blown out. I was proud of the way we responded, because when you lose that bad sometimes, your confidence gets low, but the guys dug deep and that shows character."
The Brahmas got on the board first tonight when Justin Kinnunen sent a pass to Jordan Cameron. Cameron was able to feed it Tyler Skworchinski who blistered it past Kevin Beech at the 10:41 mark. It was Skworchinski's fifth goal of the season. Good news for the Brahmas if you follow the stats as they are 10-1-0 when scoring first this season.
Garrett Larsen answered for Mississippi less than three minutes later. Larsen took a pass from Derek Landmesser and was able to do a 360 to get loose from Mike Vellinga to shoot the puck past Brett Jaeger at the 13:23 mark.
Mississippi took their first lead of the game at the 18:41 mark when Bobby Chaumont received a feed from Louis Dumont and circled around the net before taking a shot. Jaeger was unable to make the save and the RiverKings were up 2-1.
The RiverKings outshot the Brahmas 12-8 in the period. The Brahmas did not have any penalties and Mississippi was called for four minors.
The Brahmas had 49 seconds left on a powerplay to begin the second period but were unable to convert on their fifth man-advantage of the night.
The Brahmas tied it up at the 6:21 mark when defenseman Stephen Margeson lost his stick and couldn't defend against Jordan Cameron who was able to slap the puck past Beech for an unassisted short-handed goal.
Matt Quinn took a hard hit from RiverKings captain Derek Landmesser and was visited on the ice by athletic trainer Tom Hart but he was able to skate back to the bench under his own power.
Mississippi's Dallas Steward almost made it 3-2 but his shot hit the post. It was a very competitive period of hockey. The Brahmas came out hard and fast and prevented any RiverKing scoring in the middle period for the second night in a row. The Brahmas outshot Mississippi 12-10.
The Brahmas went back to work in the third period and got a lucky break at the 5:11 mark. After a face off in the offensive zone, Derek Landmesser tried to clear the puck from the side of the net and clipped it, causing a turnover. The puck slid over in front of Pete Rouleau who was able to shoot it past Kevin Beech to tie the game up at 3-3.
Play remained fast and physical for the remainder of the period but neither team was able to score. Mississippi outshot the Brahmas 8-3 in the period. The game went into overtime and despite a tremendous effort on both sides, neither team was able to beat the goaltenders and the game went to a best of five shootout.
Marc Belanger came out first for the Brahmas but his shot went wide. Jeff Nelson was first up for the RiverKings. His shot was blocked by Brett Jaeger. Jordan Cameron was next. He faked the play in front of the net, looking to get the netminder out of position but it didn't fool Beech who blocked the shot. Bobby Chaumont shot next for the RiverKings. His shot was perfect, sailing right by Jaeger, giving the RiverKings a 1-0 advantage in the shootout. Scott Sheppard was next for the Brahmas. He skated right past the puck and then came around and took it in but had his shot hit the post. Louis Dumont then had his shot stopped at the crease by Jaeger. Topher Scott also had his shot stopped at the crease, this time by a diving Beech. Derek Landmesser was next but was held by a pad save by Jaeger. Tyler Skworchinski faced a sudden death situation with a goal necessary to prevent a loss but had his shot turned away and the game was over.
Kevin Beech stopped 22 shots on goal in regulation time and overtime, picking up his 12th victory of the season (12-6-0) for Mississippi. Brahmas’ goalie Brett Jaeger made 35 saves in taking the shootout loss. His record goes to (9-3-3).
Jordan Cameron picked up the third star tonight for his excellent play. He had an assist in the first period and an unassisted, short-handed goal in the second.
The Brahmas continued their run of clean hockey with only four minutes on 2 infractions. Mississippi was called for 14 minutes on seven infractions. They went one for seven on the powerplay. Their penalty killers stopped both of Mississippi's powerplay opportunities.
The Brahmas were helped tonight by the Odessa Jackalopes who defeated their division rivals, the Laredo Bucks 3-2. This Laredo loss and the Brahmas point cut Laredo's lead to four points in the standings.
Mississippi goes to 14-9-0 and the Brahmas go to 13-7-3.
You can view the box score here
The Brahmas head for Prescott Valley next for a three-game series against the defending CHL champion Arizona Sundogs.
No comments:
Post a Comment