Mudbugs end Brahmas home winning streak Brahmas suffer first loss at NYTEX in 74 days
"We talked about how important this win would be for us before we took the ice," Mudbugs head coach Scott Muscutt told the Shreveport Times. "It's nice to know guys can respond when we need them to.”
With the loss, the Brahmas remain tied with the Mississippi RiverKings and one point behind the Colorado Eagles in the race for the Governor’s Cup. All three teams play next on Friday night.
The game started out fast and physical with both teams motivated to win. The Mudbugs outshot the Brahmas 10-6 in the first period but Brett Jaeger and Ken Carroll held strong in net.
Nathan Saunders gives Neil Clark what he asked for
The physical play picked up throughout the middle frame. Brahmas enforcer Nathan Saunders and Mudbugs forward Neil Clark mixed it up briefly five minutes into the period. Clark began taunting Saunders in the pre-game warm-ups and finally got what he was looking for – a trip to the ice. Both received five minute fighting majors.
A hooking call on Evgeny Saidachev led to a Travis Banga powerplay goal at the 10:29 mark to give the Brahmas the 1-0 lead. Craig Minard and Brandon Benedict were credited with the assist.
The Mudbugs outshot the Brahmas 9-8 in the second period but remained unable to solve Brett Jaeger.
Thunderbug Joe Blaznek (right) celebrates after scoring on Brett Jaeger in the third period
Things changed when Joe Blaznek tied the game with a power-play goal of his own, 1:28 into the third period. Dale Lupul sent a centering pass to Travis Clayton who was parked in front of the crease. Craig Minard and Justin Kinnunen sandwiched him and tried to get control of the puck while Brett Jaeger tried to defend. Clayton managed to get a pass over to Blaznek who was coming in on Jaeger's left side. Despite diving to make the save, Jaeger was unable to prevent the equalizer. It was now 1-1.
Neil Clark falls to the ice after scoring the game-winner
The Mudbugs seemed to gain a new momentum after the score. Then, Neil Clark scored the game-winning goal a little more than four minutes later at the 5:47 mark. David Pszenyczny took a shot from the blue line which deflected off of the skate of Justin Kinnunen. J.J. Martin got ahold of it and sent it over to Neil Clark, who was parked to the left of Jaeger. Clark put it past the Brahmas netminder for what would be the game-winning goal.
Brahmas fans were livid in the final minutes of the game as the linesmen seemed to look away at several obvious penalty situations. But it was a Mudbug fan who said it best after the game – “It sucks when the calls and the bounces don’t go your way.” Absolutely right; I’ll hand it to the Mudbugs. They played hard and earned this win.
I had the opportunity to spend some time after the game with Scott Muscutt, Trevor Buchanan, Ken Carroll, Chris Brassard and Quade Lightbody. These guys have a tough finish to their season ahead with four more games against the RiverKings and one each against the Killer Bees and the IceRays, all three opponents having handed the Mudbugs losses in their last meetings. They are no doubt concerned about their placement in the upcoming playoffs.
Factoid: Tuesday’s game marked the first time the Brahmas lost a game this season after leading after the first or second period at home.
Brett Jaeger had 26 saves on 28 shots for the Brahmas. With the loss, his record goes to 26-8-4-2. Jaeger received the third star for his performance in net. The other two stars went to Mudbugs, so that’s all I will say about that.
The Brahmas went 1 for 7 on the powerplay. The Mudbugs went 1 for 8. The Brahmas were assessed 23 minutes on 10 infractions. The Mudbugs received 25 minutes on 11 infractions.
You can view the box score here
You can view my photo from the game here
The Brahmas travel next to Wichita for a Friday night face-off against the Thunder before making the return trip for a game on Saturday night against the Laredo Bucks at NYTEX. The Brahmas will host the Thunder on Sunday (last home game of the regular season) for Fan Appreciation Night with a rare 6:05 PM start. A post game jersey auction will follow the game.
Photo Credits: Robert Keith
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