The Texas Brahmas are kings of the Southern Conference after Jason Deitsch beat Juha Toivonen twice in a 12-round shootout, earning a 4-3 win and a four point lead over the Odessa Jackalopes. The Brahmas record is now 33-12-4, their home record is a league best 20-3-1 and they now have a league best 11 straight home wins.
The first period was all Brahmas, with Pete Rouleau opening up a can of North Richland Hills whoop-ass on Juha Toivonen with an unassisted goal at the 2:15 mark. It was his 10th goal of the season.
Brandon Benedict scored his first goal as a Texas Brahma with the assist from Scott Sheppard and Jason Deitsch at the 5:23 mark.
Next up was Kevin McLeod, scoring his third goal against Odessa this weekend on the powerplay with a little help from Craig Minard and Brett Jaeger.
Odessa got on the board at the 4:32 mark in the second period when Dominic Leveille scored with 17 seconds left on the powerplay, redirecting a bouncing puck past Brett Jaeger. Mario Joly and Mike Ramsay were credited with the assist.
The Jackalopes evened it up with a pair of powerplay goals in the third period. Jeff Pierce was set up by Sebastien Thinel and Philippe Plante at the 5:38 mark. Russ Moyer scored the equalizer at the 13:16 mark. Mike Lesperance and Jeff Pierce.
Neither team was able to score in the overtime period as Brett Jaeger and Juha Toivonen held strong in the net. They would be tested in the shootout.
Jason Deitsch was the MVP of the shootout, scoring twice, including the game-winner
The shootout went an amazing twelve rounds. Jeff Pierce, Brian Swiniarski and Kory Karlander scored for the Jacks. Jordan Cameron and Brandon Benedict scored for the Brahmas, but it was Jason Deitsch's two goals that made the difference. Jeff Pierce had the final attempt for Odessa, but was held off by Brett Jaeger to preserve the 4-3 shootout win.
Jaeger stopped 38 of 41 shots to earn the win and his record improved to 24-6-4-2. He is now fifth in the league with 40 star points.
The Brahmas were assessed 22 minutes on 11 infractions. The Jackalopes were assessed 20 minutes on 10 infractions. The Brahmas went 1 for 6 on the powerplay. The Jackalopes went 3 for 9.
Odessa's Jeff Pierce earned the third star for his performance, including a goal, an assist and a shootout goal. Brandon Benedict was given the second star for his first period goal and Jason Deitsch was awarded the first star an assist and his two shootout goals which won the game.
The Brahmas will remain home at the NYTEX Sports Centre for Friday's game against the Laredo Bucks. The Brahmas lead the Bucks by 10 points in the Southeast Division.
Immediately following the game, the Brahmas will auction off their game worn Reliant Energy jerseys.
Photo Credits: Robert Keith
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