Craig Minard and Jordan Cameron celebrate Justin Kinnunen's 2nd goal of the night

Brahmas snap Odessa's win streak

Defeat the Jackalopes 4-1

The Texas Brahmas, anchored by the performance of goaltender Brett Jaeger, evened up the Southern Conference Finals series 1-1 with a 4-1 win on Saturday night. In front of a sell-out home crowd at the NYTEX Sports Centre, the Brahmas made amends for their lackluster play the previous evening with All-Star defenseman Justin Kinnunen and regular season scoring leader Scott Sheppard each scoring two goals.

Jaeger made 42 saves and held the Jackalopes to just one goal, denying them a sixth consecutive playoff win.

The first period started out fast and physical as both teams came out motivated for what would be an important win for either side. The Brahmas would score the only goal of the first period when defenseman Kevin McLeod fed the puck to Scott Sheppard who carried it down the left-wing boards and then sent a wrister in from the left circle. A Jackalope defender dove in front of the crease in an attempt to block the shot, but the puck beat goaltender Alexandre Vincent on the glove side inside the right post. At the 13:30 mark, it was 1-0 Brahmas.

The Jacks outshot the Brahmas 12 to 10 in the first 20 minutes but were unable to solve Brett Jaeger who was solid in the net.

The physical play increased in the second period and Jacks' discipline began to falter. After Jacks forward Kenny Bernard was sent to the sin bin for Roughing, the Brahmas capitalized on the man-advantage to take a 2-0 lead at the 15:09 mark. Defenseman Craig Minard skated the puck out of the Brahmas' zone and sent it to Jason Deitsch. Deitsch's shot was stopped but Justin Kinnunen was there to deflect it into the net, beating Vincent inside the left post.

The Jacks finally got on the board four-and-a-half minutes later to cut the lead in half with just 22 seconds left in the middle frame. Sebastien Thinel sent the puck to Dominic Leveille in the slot and Leveille's ensuing shot whizzed past Brett Jaeger for the score.

The Jacks would lose their starting goaltender to an apparent back injury in the final moments of the period. After 40 minutes Alexandre Vincent made 16 saves on 18 shots in what would become his third consecutive loss in the playoffs.

Odessa out shot the Brahmas 19-8 in the second and had a 31-18 shot advantage through two periods but Brett Jaeger's stellar performance would only surrender a single goal to their effort.

Odessa brought out Juha Toivonen for the third period but the 21-year-old goalie, who has had his share of injuries, would prove no match for the fired-up Texas Brahmas.

Scott Sheppard capitalized on the first power play of the period after the Jacks were called for a Too Many Men Bench Minor. His shot flew past Toivonen to give the Brahmas a 3-1 lead at the 6:51 mark. Jason Deitsch and Justin Kinnunen were in on the assist.

Kinnunen added another tally at the 13:22 mark. His unassisted goal sent in from center ice was too fast for Toivonen and the final score was established at 4-1.

The Jacks had the shot advantage for the third time at 12-11 and despite a 43-29 shot advantage in the game, they suffered their first loss since game two of the semi-final series in Laredo.

Brett Jaeger won his fifth game in the playoffs, stopping 42 of 43 shots. He has now stopped 69 of 72 shots in the series and has the best GAA (2.06) of any active goaltender in the playoffs.

The Brahmas went two for seven on the power play. Their penalty killers stopped all four Jackalope power plays. The Brahmas have now gone 3 for 17 on the power play in the series versus Odessa, while the Jacks have not scored in 13 chances with the man advantage.

The Brahmas were assessed 18 minutes on nine penalties. The Jackalopes received 24 minutes on 12 infractions.

The 3rd star of the game went to Justin Kinnunen who had two goals and an assist on the night. The 2nd star went to Scott Sheppard for his two goals and the 1st star went to Brett Jaeger for his outstanding performance in net.

You can view the box score here

You can view my photos from the game here

Game three of the Conference Finals will be played on Tuesday, April 14th at 7:05pm CST at the Ector County Coliseum in Odessa.

Photo Credit: Robert Keith