The Insider Preview - Texas Brahmas @ Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs

Brahmas on the road for last regular season match-up at CenturyTel

The Texas Brahmas (37-12-5, 79 points) are in Bossier City tonight to take on the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs (33-15-4, 70 points) for the fifth and final meeting between the two clubs at the CenturyTel Center, where the Mudbugs have had the most success (2-2, if you can call that success) against the Brahmas this season.

The 'Bugs won the season opener at home on October 17th by a score of 5-1. They lost the next meeting there on November 29th by the same score. On December 23rd, the Brahmas won 4-3 and then finally, the Mudbugs snapped a six-game losing streak against the Brahmas with a 4-1 win on February 7th. The Brahmas have won six of eight games overall in the I-20 series this season.

The Brahmas are coming off of three straight wins and have won six of their last seven. They are 14-9-4 on the road this season. The Mudbugs are coming off of two losses in a row but have won four of their last six since they last faced the Brahmas. They are 18-7-0 at home this season.

The Mudbugs' top three scorers are Joe Blaznek (F) with 48 points (18 G, 30 A), Dale Lupul (D)with 44 points (12 G, 32 A) and Travis Clayton (F) with 41 points (16 G, 25 A). On Special teams, the Mudbugs are ranked eighth in the league overall on the powerplay at 18.3% and 14th at home at 15.6%. On the penalty kill, Bossier-Shreveport is ranked second in the league overall at 86.1% and first at home at 89.1% (yikes!).

The top three scorers for the Brahmas are Scott Sheppard (F) with 63 points (31 G, 32 A), Jordan Cameron (F) with 54 points (30 G, 24 A) and Grant Jacobsen (F) with 52 points (20 G, 32 A). On special teams, the Brahmas are ranked third in the league overall on the powerplay at 20.42% and third on the road at 20.3%. On the penalty kill, they are ranked 12th in the league overall at 81.2% and 14th on the road at 76.2%.

Both David Cacciola (12-6-1-1) and Brett Jaeger (25-6-4-2) have losses against the Mudbugs at CenturyTel this season. I think Brett Jaeger will get the nod tonight. Jon Horrell (10-3-2-1) is the likely starter for the Mudbugs.

The Brahmas waived defenseman Dan Force today. Defenseman Nathan Saunders was placed on a two game league suspension for leaving the bench to fight last night against the Amarillo Gorillas. They will be without forward Travis Banga tonight. Forward Matt Quinn and defenseman Eric Lundberg have been practicing, but neither are expected to start.

The Mudbugs will be without forward Evgeny Saidachev, center Brett Smith and defenseman Clay Thoring who are out on injured reserve.

Note: Bossier-Shreveport’s Chris Brassard needs just four points to become the 20th player in CHL history to hit the 500-point plateau. In his career, Brassard has scored 190 goals with 306 assists in 508 games played. Let's hope he doesn't get those points tonight.

Massey Ratings says the Mudbugs will win tonight. Let's hope they're wrong.

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

Photo Credit: Robert Keith