Insider Preview - Texas Brahmas vs. Laredo Bucks IV

The Brahmas travel to the Laredo Entertainment Center for a Wednesday night face off

In a huge divisional match-up, the Brahmas and the Bucks meet up for the fourth time this season tonight at the Laredo Entertainment Center. The Brahmas have won two games in a row (4-1, 6-2) against their newest rivals. Game one of the series at NYTEX ended in a 2-1 shootout loss. Obviously, a win by the Brahmas and the seven point lead in the division that would go with it would be priceless at this point in the season.

The Brahmas at 24-10-3 have become the third team in the league to reach the 50-point mark (Colorado 59, Odessa 53) with 51. They are currently five points ahead of the Bucks in the Southeast Division and just two points behind Odessa in the Southern Conference.

All-Star defenseman Justin Kinnunen will be back with the team tonight after being released from his PTO contract by the San Antonio Rampage (AHL). Defenseman Mike Vellinga is still on injured reserve. Not sure if Pete Rouleau will be back for this one.

The Brahmas will have the upper hand at goaltender as Laredo goaltender Sebastien Centomo was granted leave by the league on Monday. He and his wife Amanda welcomed their first child, Jaxson Cruz Centomo at 8am this morning in Oklahoma City. Ryan Gibb (8-2-2) will start in net in his place and Equipment Manager Matt Brayfield will serve as Gibb's backup. It will be Gibb's first start against the Brahmas.

Brett Jaeger (18-5-3) is tied for the number one save percentage in the league (With Oklahoma's Doug Groenestege) at .924. He is tied for number two in wins (with Mississippi's Kevin Beech) and is number three with a 2.36 GAA. Jaeger went 2-0 last week and has won nine of his last 10 games. He has gone 9-1-0 over his last 10 decisions. On Friday night, Jaeger stopped all 37 Arizona shots he faced earning his second shutout of the season. The 5-10, 190-pound goaltender followed that up with a 27 save performance in the Brahmas 6-2 win over Laredo on Saturday night.

The Bucks are 4-5-3 in their last 12 games with three of their four wins coming against Corpus Christi. They are 15-4-1 at home this season which is a good record but they have played some unstable hockey lately and are facing a red hot Brahmas squad that has more weapons than they need to pull off another win at the LEC.

On the positive side for Laredo, All-Star forward Darryl Smith is expected to play on Wednesday night. Smith sat out Saturday's game with a minor injury. He leads all CHL rookies in scoring with 44 points (21 G, 23 A).

Defensemen Steve Weidlich and Devin Featherstone were both banged up in Saturday night's game. Weidlich got his bell rung thanks to a head-on collision with Tyler Skworchinski against the boards. He hasn't attended practice and is doubtful for Wednesday's game. Featherstone received stitches in his mouth after taking a stick in the face but was able to practice.

Center Ryan Salvis and defensemen Jaye Judd and Vincent Zaore-Vanie are all questionable.

After Wednesday's game, the Bucks and Brahmas will meet four more times this season, twice at the LEC, and twice at the NYTEX Sports Centre.

The game should be broadcast on Nifty-TV. If that fails, you can listen on Internet radio here

Photo Credit: Robert Keith