Brahmas stung again by the Killer Bees

Lose final regular season game on the road, 3-1

The Texas Brahmas finished the regular season with a 42-16-6 record and 90 points after being dispatched in the third period tonight by a feisty Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees squad.

The Bees end the season at 35-24-5 and 73 points (franchise record). They also finish with a franchise best home record of 21-8-3. They will host the Corpus Christi IceRays (who defeated the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs in a 3-2 shootout win tonight) in the best of three series set to begin on Monday night. The winner of that series will take on the Brahmas at the NYTEX Sports Center beginning next Saturday night.

"That was an intense hockey game," Bees coach Chris Brooks told The Monitor. "Both teams played with a lot of urgency and that's what you're going to see from here on out."

It was a tough loss for the Brahmas who have now lost four of their last seven road games. A disturbing loss for the fans, who expected more from the boys tonight. But in the end it means nothing because the playoffs start a whole new season on Saturday night and that is where the results will count.

The first two frames tonight were at the same time a yawner and a good defensive match-up, although neither team was really playing that well though the first 40 minutes.

The first period must have seemed like a vacation for David Cacciola as the Killer Bees only managed five shots on goal compared to 17 for the Brahmas. There was a lot of action taking place in the Bees' defensive zone but fortunately for them, Wylie Rogers was able to make the necessary saves and send the Brahmas to the locker room scoreless at the 1st intermission.

The Brahmas went 0 for 2 on the powerplay and matching penalties led to four-on-four hockey twice in the period but again, neither team was able to capitalize.

The Brahmas began the second period with 12 seconds remaining on the powerplay but were unable to score. They got their second man-advantage at the 1:05 mark on a Cross Checking call on Kurtis Dulle and despite a concentrated effort by the Brahmas, Rogers was able to protect the net. The Killer Bees managed to close the gap on the shot count to 14-13 after the Brahmas pulled ahead again in the middle frame but could not solve David Cacciola who defended against a four-on-three powerplay in the final minute of the period.

After 40 minutes, the shots on goal were 31-18, Brahmas advantage but again, neither team was able to find the back of the net.

The four-on three powerplay continued into the third period and the Killer Bees finally managed a score (their sixth four-on-three goal this season) at the :27 mark. Nicolas Dumoulin sent in a shot from the right point. Cacciola was able to block it but Grant Goeckner-Zoeller was there on the doorstep and was able to beat Cacciola to make it a 1-0 game. Kurtis Dulle was also credited with the assist.

Texas answered just 46 seconds later as the Bees seemed to just back off and allow the Brahmas to set up their play in the neutral zone. Kevin Mcleod sent the puck in from the left boards to Jordan Cameron who scored the Brahmas league-leading 20th short-handed goal of the season. the game was now tied at 1-1 at the 1:13 mark of the third.

Greg McConnell nearly had a goal at about the six minute mark, but his shot hit the pipe.

The Bees would score again when Matt Byrnes (the Brahmas who never was) received a pass from Kurtis Dulle and jammed it past David Cacciola to make it 2-1 at the 13:18 mark. Zak McClellan was also in on the assist.

Just 74 seconds later, right wing Evan Rankin took a pass from Brent Gauvreau and swept it in front of the crease for defenseman Dan McGoff, (playing forward tonight due to Trevor Weisgerber being out) who put it past Cacciola to make it a 3-1 game with 5:28 left in the game.

Tempers flared toward the end of the period. First, Jason Deitsch got into it with Nicolas Dumoulin in front of Wylie Rogers (who decided to get involved) at the 17:58 mark. Deitsch and Dumoulin received Roughing Double Minors and Rogers received a roughing call. Shortly thereafter, a Brahma player flicked the puck into the Bee's bench in the general direction of coach Chris Brooks (there was no indication that it was intentional), who argued for action against the player, but no penalty was assessed. Then at the 19:43 mark, Greg McConnell and Jesse Perrin mixed it up near the Brahmas' bench and both were sent to the locker rooms early. They both received Fighting Majors and McConnell was given a Cross Checking call.

The game ended with the score 3-1 Bees. The Brahmas outshot the Bees 19-12 in the final frame and 50-30 in the game. Wylie Rogers stopped 49 shots to win his 18th game of the season and earned the 1st star. Taking the loss, David Cacciola's record goes to 14-7-1-3.

The Brahmas went 0 for 6 on the powerplay; Rio Grande Valley went 1 for 5.

The Brahmas were assessed 25 minutes on 11 infractions. The Killer Bees received 27 minutes on 12 infractions.

All three stars went to the Killer Bees so that's all I'll say about that.

The Brahmas return home to await the victor of the Killer Bees/IceRays series. The Brahmas first home playoff game is set for Saturday, March 28 at 7:05 PM followed by Game 2 on Sunday, March 29 at 3:05 PM.