Brahmas hold off the Killer Bees, take game one in conference semi-final

Tyler Skworchinski scores two goals, earns 1st star

The Texas Brahmas won the first game of the best of seven series against the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees by a score of 4-2. Skating on home ice and in front of 2,369 fans, the Brahmas took early control of the game and although the Killer Bees played well, they could not get the momentum needed to beat the number one seed in the Southern Conference.

"I thought we played hard; I just thought we made some mistakes," Killer Bees head coach Chris Brooks said. "Within our system, you've go to win the one-on-one battles. We just weren't doing that tonight."

The Brahmas struck first when Jordan Cameron capitalized off a deflection from Ross Rouleau’s shot from the point and drove it in past Bees goaltender Wylie Rogers at the 2:04 mark.

Back-to-back calls on the Brahmas led to a 5-on-3 powerplay and Killer Bees right wing Evan Rankin took advantage, beating Brett Jaeger and tying the game at the 11:27 mark with the assist from Nathan Ansell and former Brahma Topher Scott.

The Brahmas re-took the lead with a powerplay goal of their own less than 90 seconds later when Jason Deitsch found the back of the net at the 9:55 mark. Brandon Benedict and Justin Kinnunen were credited with the assist.

The Brahmas had the only score of the second period. Jason Deitsch fed the puck to Tyler Skworchinski, whose shot trickled between the legs of Rogers, finding its way to the back of the net at the 10:49 mark. The score was now 3-1.

The Killer Bees managed to get on the board again on the man-advantage after the Brahmas' Pete Rouleau was called for hooking. Grant Goeckner-Zoeller scored his third goal of the post-season off the set up by Evan Rankin and Dan McGoff to make it 3-2 at the 7:33 mark.

But Tyler Skworchinski sealed the win with an unassisted goal on a breakaway at the 10:59 mark, setting up Wylie Rogers' first loss in three starts in the playoffs.

The Brahmas out shot the Killer Bees 31-20 and went 1 for 6 on the powerplay. The Killer Bees went 2 for 13 on the man-advantage.

“I thought they played a strong game,” Dan Wildfong said. “We capitalized on our opportunities when we had them but we almost gave then another five-on-three. We have to be more disciplined if we’re going to win this series.”

Brett Jaeger saved 18 of 20 shots for the win. Wylie Rogers saved 27 of 31 shots and takes the loss.

The Brahmas were assessed 28 minutes on 14 infractions. The Killer Bees were assessed 27 minutes on eight infractions.

The 3rd star went to Rio Grande Valley's Evan Rankin, who had a goal and an assist. The 2nd star went to Jason Deitsch, who also had a goal and an assist. Tyler Skworchinski earned the 1st star for his two goal on the night.

You can view the box score here

You can view my pictures from the game here

The two teams will meet again on Sunday afternoon at 3:05pm. The first 1,000 fans will receive a free Brahma’s playoff t-shirt, courtesy of Dr. Geoffrey Millican and Panera Bread.