Killer Bees swarm Brahmas, win 5-2What do you do when you out shoot your opponent 42-29 but nothing seems to go your way? Start looking ahead to Thursday night's road game against the Jackalopes, which is exactly what the Texas Brahmas are doing after losing a 5-1 match against the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees on Saturday night at NYTEX.
Attendance was announced at 2,239 but a lot of seats were empty. Regardless, the noise level and the chants of the Brahmas fans were impressive.
The Brahmas came out strong but were unable to get anything going offensively in the first period. When they did, they were stymied by Bees goalie Wylie Rogers who was perfect in the frame. The Killer Bees, on the other hand, managed an all-out assault led by Los Angeles native Grant Goeckner-Zoeller, who was on fire throughout the game.
4:24 into the first period, Goeckner-Zoeller put the Bees on the scoreboard with a quick strike on Joe Palmer with the assist from Jesse Bennefield and Daymen Rycroft. On a power play due to a hooking call on Luke Sellars, Goeckner-Zoeller took just three seconds to beat Palmer again to give the Bees a 2-0 lead. Shaun Landolt and Daymen Rycroft were credited with the assist.
The period would end with 13 shots for each side and the Brahmas already in a hole they would never get out of.
The Bees continued their assault in the second frame and nailed a 3-0 lead when Shaun Landolt beat Palmer for his fifth goal of the season :48 seconds in. Joel Irving and Andrew Schembri were in on the assist.
After Bees netminder Wylie Rogers was called for roughing, the Brahmas had a rare power play goal scored by rookie Jason Reese with a little help from Jordan Cameron and Grant Jacobsen.
Things took a turn for the worse when a hit on Jordan Cameron along the boards at the 17:31 marker erupted into chaos and ultimately a game misconduct on Cameron and offsetting roughing minors to Texas’ Grant Jacobsen and Rio’s Landolt. The Bees 7th ranked powerplay went to work quickly and in just ten seconds took a 4-1 lead from a 5-on-3 goal by defenseman Nathan Ansell. Daymen Rycroft recorded his third assist and Grant Goeckner-Zoeller had his third point as well on the play.
The Brahmas had a 16-9 shot advantage in the middle frame but went into the locker room down by three and with little going their way.
A goal by Tyler Skworchinski at the 15:56 mark put the Brahmas within two but a second Rio power play goal, this time by Jesse Bennefield shut the door on any possible comeback. The score, assisted once again by Rycroft and Goeckner-Zoeller sealed the win for the Bees and gave Joe Palmer his second regulation loss of the season.
The Brahmas out shot the Killer Bees 13-7 in the third frame and 42 to 29 in the game. The loss takes their record to 5-6-2 (.462).
Joe Palmer made 24 saves on 29 shots and takes the loss. His record is now 3-2-2. Wylie Rogers stopped 40 of 42 shots and earned the win. His record goes to 3-1-0.
The Brahmas went 1 for 4 on the power play. The Gorillas went 3 for 10.
The Brahmas were assessed 33 minutes on 11 infractions; the Gorillas received 12 minutes on six infractions.
The 3rd Star of the game went to Jason Reese for his power play goal in the second period. The 2nd Star was awarded to Shaun Landolt who had a goal and an assist and the 1st Star went to Grant Goeckner-Zoeller who had two goals and two assists on the night.
You can view the box score here
You can view my photos from the game here
Observations:
- Rough night (to say the least) for Joe Palmer. He had no chance on the first two goals. Probably should have been able to stop the fourth; it went right through the five hole. His stick handling seemed to be off.
- Don't blame poor officiating on this loss. Tom Steinel and his crew did a sh*tty job, but let's be real. The boys have a lot of work to do to set the ship right.
- The Brahmas are now 3-3-0 at NYTEX.
- Seven power play goals in 77 advantages. If you can't score with an advantage, how do you expect to score at even strength. The power play deficit remains the single biggest hindrance to the Brahmas success this season.
- Did anybody else miss seeing Topher Scott? Topher was on IR but was activated on Sunday.
The Brahmas will have a three game road trip next week where they will take on Odessa (Thursday), Rio Grande Valley (Friday) and Laredo (Saturday). The following Wednesday, they will host the Jackalopes at NYTEX. Tough Schedule to say the least.
Photo Credit: Robert Keith
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