Brahmas send Killer Bees home with another loss"Ugly" win still gives two game lead in series
The Texas Brahmas took game two of the Southern Conference Semi-finals on Sunday afternoon at the NYTEX Sports Centre. Down two games to none, the Rio Grande Killer Bees boarded their bus for the long ride home where they will get a little rest before they host the Brahmas on Wednesday evening for game three at the Dodge Center.
For the Brahmas, it was an ugly win; some would say the second ugly win in a row but a win nonetheless.
Brahmas head coach Dan Wildfong concurred.
“I don’t think either game was pretty at all, but obviously we got the job done,” Wildfong said. “I thought we came out and played a little more playoff hockey in our first game and in the second game, we just didn’t find that urgency right off the bat.”
The Killer Bees seemed to swarm the Brahmas through the first 15 minutes of play, effectively covering each attacking Brahma man-for-man.
24-year-old Brennan Sarazin, an amateur from RIT who signed just prior to the game, gave the Killer Bees the 1-0 lead at the 12:01 mark of the first period, silencing the hometown crowd of 2,132. Set up by Evan Rankin and Kurtis Dulle, Sarazin was able to beat Brett Jaeger, sending the puck over his left shoulder and into the net.
The Killer Bees were able to defend their lead for nearly five minutes until the Brahmas’ Greg McConnell scored an unassisted strike on Wylie Rogers at the 16:51 mark to even it up at 1-1. McConnell’s goal breathed some life into the Brahmas offensive effort and just 78 seconds later, Jason Deitsch fed the puck to Brandon Benedict who put it right between Wylie Rogers’ legs to take the 2-1 lead. Craig Minard was also in on the assist.
“I don’t think either game was pretty at all, but obviously we got the job done,” Wildfong said. “I thought we came out and played a little more playoff hockey in our first game and in the second game, we just didn’t find that urgency right off the bat.”
The Killer Bees seemed to swarm the Brahmas through the first 15 minutes of play, effectively covering each attacking Brahma man-for-man.
24-year-old Brennan Sarazin, an amateur from RIT who signed just prior to the game, gave the Killer Bees the 1-0 lead at the 12:01 mark of the first period, silencing the hometown crowd of 2,132. Set up by Evan Rankin and Kurtis Dulle, Sarazin was able to beat Brett Jaeger, sending the puck over his left shoulder and into the net.
The Killer Bees were able to defend their lead for nearly five minutes until the Brahmas’ Greg McConnell scored an unassisted strike on Wylie Rogers at the 16:51 mark to even it up at 1-1. McConnell’s goal breathed some life into the Brahmas offensive effort and just 78 seconds later, Jason Deitsch fed the puck to Brandon Benedict who put it right between Wylie Rogers’ legs to take the 2-1 lead. Craig Minard was also in on the assist.
The Killer Bees struck again at the 6:20 mark of the second period when Matt Byrnes sent a wrister past Brett Jaeger to tie the score at 2-2. Aaron Lee and Jay Hardwick were credited with the assist.
Rather than capitalize on the momentum created by Byrnes’ goal, the Killer Bees’ discipline broke down, resulting in nine penalties in the middle period. A McConnell roughing call was about to put the Killer Bees on a power play late in the second period. But Rio Grande Valley’s Ryan Shmyr, upset by McConnell’s actions, had some choice words for Texas’ bench and was sent to the penalty box for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Rather than capitalize on the momentum created by Byrnes’ goal, the Killer Bees’ discipline broke down, resulting in nine penalties in the middle period. A McConnell roughing call was about to put the Killer Bees on a power play late in the second period. But Rio Grande Valley’s Ryan Shmyr, upset by McConnell’s actions, had some choice words for Texas’ bench and was sent to the penalty box for unsportsmanlike conduct.
During the resulting four-on-four play, Brandon Benedict took a feed from Jason Deitsch and sent the puck past Wylie Rogers for his second goal of the night, re-taking the lead 11 seconds later at the 14:48 mark.
A scary moment came for Brahmas fans later in the period when forward Jordan Cameron went down after being slashed by Killer Bee defenseman Nicolas Dumoulin. Cameron was able to make it back to the bench, assisted by athletic trainer Tom Hart, but was unable to return to play. Dumoulin was assessed a Slashing Major and a Game Misconduct for his deed.
A scary moment came for Brahmas fans later in the period when forward Jordan Cameron went down after being slashed by Killer Bee defenseman Nicolas Dumoulin. Cameron was able to make it back to the bench, assisted by athletic trainer Tom Hart, but was unable to return to play. Dumoulin was assessed a Slashing Major and a Game Misconduct for his deed.
Jason Deitsch scored just 13 seconds into the resulting powerplay, giving the Brahmas a 4-2 lead at the 19:59 mark.
Tyler Skworchinski, who had two goals in the previous game, scored on a shot from the point at the 6:24 mark of the third period to give the Brahmas a 5-3 lead. Pete Rouleau was in on the assist.
The Killer Bees would mount a solid effort to tie the game up. But despite two consecutive powerplay goals by Grant Goeckner-Zoeller and Evan Rankin, the home team secured another victory and another loss for Wylie Rogers. Rogers saved 29 of 34 shots faced.
Brett Jaeger stopped 17 of 21 shots faced for his second playoff win in a row.
The Killer Bees would mount a solid effort to tie the game up. But despite two consecutive powerplay goals by Grant Goeckner-Zoeller and Evan Rankin, the home team secured another victory and another loss for Wylie Rogers. Rogers saved 29 of 34 shots faced.
Brett Jaeger stopped 17 of 21 shots faced for his second playoff win in a row.
The Brahmas’ special teams continued to struggle, going just one for 10 in the game and has gone two for 16 in the series. The Killer Bees went two for six in the game and has gone 4 for 19 in the series.
You can view the box score here
You can view the box score here
You can view my photos from the game here
Game three will be at the Dodge Center in Hidalgo, Texas on Wednesday night. Chris Brooks is happy to be going back to home ice where the ‘Bees had a franchise best 21-8-3 record in the regular season. But he also knows that stopping the Brahmas’ momentum will require some discipline.
“We just have to eliminate mistakes,” Brooks said. “Every goal that they scored was due to mistakes in our systems. We need guys to become more accountable and tighten up on the rush, tighten up more on the cycle; you give them time and space and the puck’s going to end up in the back of your net”
Photo Credit: Robert Keith
Game three will be at the Dodge Center in Hidalgo, Texas on Wednesday night. Chris Brooks is happy to be going back to home ice where the ‘Bees had a franchise best 21-8-3 record in the regular season. But he also knows that stopping the Brahmas’ momentum will require some discipline.
“We just have to eliminate mistakes,” Brooks said. “Every goal that they scored was due to mistakes in our systems. We need guys to become more accountable and tighten up on the rush, tighten up more on the cycle; you give them time and space and the puck’s going to end up in the back of your net”
Photo Credit: Robert Keith
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