Texas Brahmas lose to the Tulsa Oilers 2-1

Bulls surprised at BOK Center debut

The Texas Brahmas were stymied tonight by a sharp Tulsa Oilers team who lived up to their potential and managed to beat the Brahmas on home ice at the BOK Center.

The first period was highlighted by strong performances from the opposing goaltenders. Brett Jaeger and Guy St. Vincent were able to prevent any scoring despite some close calls. The Oilers' Brett McConnachie had three shots stopped. Scott Sheppard provided half of the Brahmas offense with three shots but was unable to solve St. Vincent.

During the last meeting between the two teams ten days ago at the NYTEX Sports Centre, the Brahmas had three scores in the first period, so the Oilers defense showed improvement. There were only four minors called in the period and both teams went 0 for 2 on powerplay opportunities.

The Oilers started the second period short-handed and the Brahmas had a couple of good scoring chances by Scott Sheppard and Kevin McCleod but St. Vincent held them off.

The Oilers took advantage of a powerplay opportunity of their own and put the first point on the board. Michel Beausoleil took a pass from Sean Collins and blasted the puck past Brett Jaeger at the 7:36 mark. It was Beausoleil's 8th goal of the season and marked his 15th straight game with a point scored. Brendon Hodge was credited with the assist.

The Oilers struck again at the 10:05 mark with an even-strength goal when Brendon Hodge was able to flip the puck past Jaeger with the assist from Michel Beausoleil and Kevin Hansen. The Brahmas were stifled by Guy St. Vincent for another twenty minutes and found themselves without a score after two periods despite outshooting the Oilers 12-8 in the second.

The third period saw a lot of exciting action as the both teams fought for the win. Greg McConnell prevented the shutout with an unnassisted goal on the powerplay at the 13:19 mark. The play was a bit of a fluke as McConnell tried to center his shot and ended up hitting St. Vincent in the back from behind the goal line. The puck rolled in and suddenly the Brahmas had cut the lead in half.

St. Vincent stayed sharp and prevented any further Brahma scores. The Brahmas pulled Jaeger in the final minute and used six attackers to rush St. Vincent but were unable to tie it up despite several attempts.

The Oilers were very successful in getting into the shooting lanes and deflecting shots as well as guarding the net. Overall, their defense was terrific tonight. Guy St. Vincent was magnificent, stopping 28 shots and improving his record to 3-3-0. The Oilers improve to 5-10-2 with the win.

The Brahmas went 0 for 7 on the powerplay tonight. Brett Jaeger stopped 26 of 28 shots and goes to 8-2-1.

The Brahmas are now 11-6-1 on the season and their road record goes to 4-4-1. They return home to face the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs on Friday.

Photo Credit: Stephen Holman/Tulsa World