Jason Deitsch puts one past Juha Toivonen during the Jackalopes' last visit to NYTEX

The Insider Preview - Texas Brahmas vs. Odessa Jackalopes

Brahmas lead in Conference race by seven points

The Southern Conference-leading Texas Brahmas (38-13-5, 81 points) host the Odessa Jackalopes (34-16-6, 74 points). The Brahmas are coming off last night's dominant 3-0 shutout victory over the Corpus Christi IceRays. It was their league-leading 15th consecutive home win and they are looking to make it sweet 16 tonight.

The two teams have met five times at NYTEX this season. The Brahmas won the first game, a pre-season exhibition, 3-2 in overtime. In the regular season, the Brahmas won by a score of 7-3 on October 25th but lost 5-2 on November 8th. The Brahmas then won two in a row on February 13th (3-2) and February 14th (4-3 shootout). Their last meeting was a 4-3 shootout loss at the Ector County Coliseum in Odessa.

The Jackalopes, down seven points in the race for conference champion are coming off a 3-1 home win over the Laredo Bucks last night. They have a 17-8-3 road record this season.

The Jackalopes' active top three scorers are Sebastien Thinel (F) with 85 points (34 G, 51 A), Kory Karlander (F) with 67 points (30 G, 37 A) and Jeff Pierce (F) with 56 points (16 G, 40 A). On Special teams, the Jacks are ranked 1st in the league overall on the powerplay at 21.9% and 1st on the road at 21.0%. On the penalty kill, Odessa is ranked fourth in the league overall at 85% and third on the road at 86.7%.

Sebastien Thinel is the player to watch on the Jackalopes squad. In the last 10 games, Thinel has scored 19 points (5 G, 14 A) and is a +3. On the road, he leads the Jacks with 42 points (16 G, 26 A) this season and is a +10. He has scored 8 points (2 G, 6 A) against the Brahmas this season.

The top three scorers for the Brahmas are Scott Sheppard (F) with 63 points (31 G, 32 A), Jordan Cameron (F) with 55 points (21 G, 34 A) and Grant Jacobsen (F) with 53 points (20 G, 33 A). On special teams, the Brahmas are ranked third in the league overall on the powerplay at 19.9% and fifth at home at 20.4%. On the penalty kill, the Brahmas are ranked 11th in the league overall at 81% and third at home at 87.4%. The Brahmas remain the league-leaders with 18 short-handed goals.

Jason Deitsch is the man to watch on the Brahmas squad. In the last 10 games, Deitsch has scored 15 points (7 G, 8 A) and is a +5. He has scored 39 points (17 G, 22 A) in total and is a +17 this season. Another to watch is Scott Sheppard, who leads the home guard this season with 35 points (13 G, 22 A) and is a +15 at NYTEX. He has scored 7 points (3 G, 4 A) against the Jackalopes this season.

If overtime is necessary, it is notable that the Jackalopes are 0-3 in OT and the Brahmas are 5-1. The Jacks are 4-3 in shootouts and the Brahmas are 3-4.

Juha Toivonen (10-4-2-1) is likely to get the start in net for the Jackalopes with Alexandre Vincent out on goaltender IR since February 7th. Toivonen is 10th in the league with a 2.83 GAA and 13th with a .901 save percentage. He has one win against the Brahmas this season.

Brett Jaeger (25-7-4-2) is expected in the net for the Brahmas tonight. I'm betting it will be Juha Toivonen (11-6-2-1) in net for the Jackalopes.

The Jackalopes will be without forward Marc Rechlicz who was recalled by the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (AHL) yesterday. They will also be without forwards Brian Swiniarski, Dominic Leveille and defenseman Mario Joly, all out on injured reserve. Goaltender Alexandre Vincent also remains listed on the IR.

The Brahmas will probably be without forward Matt Quinn and defenseman Eric Lundberg. Both are still listed on the injured reserve. Scott Sheppard did not play last night due to illness. I'm not sure he will play tonight.

This should be a good one. The game starts at 7:05pm and will be broadcast on Nifty-TV if you can't make the trip.

Photo Credit: Robert Keith