0-8-2!

Brahmas beat Corpus Christi 2-1, Wildfong remains perfect against Ice Rays

The Texas Brahmas won their tenth straight game against the Corpus Christi Ice Rays tonight at the NYTEX Sports Centre. With the win, the Brahmas record goes to 9-9-3 (.500) and they remain in fifth place in the Southern Conference.

Corpus Christi took the 1-0 lead when Justin Quenneville one-timed a pass from Ryan Garbutt deep into the offensive zone and past Jaeger at the 3:06 mark. Ryan Bennett was also credited with the assist.

Less than two minutes later, Anders Strome scored the equalizer from right in front of IceRays netminder Kevin Nastiuk. Elias Godoy gained control of the puck just below the circles and to the right of the goal, spun half-circle and fed a perfect strike to Strome, who scored his fourth goal of the season. Ross Rouleau also assisted.

The Brahmas led the shot count 11-8 in the first frame and went into the locker room tied at one.

The second period was all about defense for the Brahmas, who allowed just two shots from the Ice Rays versus their 12.

There would be just one more score in the game as Grant Jacobsen scored his eighth goal of the season (and 190th career point) at the 4:31 mark with a little help from Elias Godoy and Anders Strome.

Corpus Christi outshot the Brahmas 12-7 in the final frame and came as close as a puck hitting the post to tie the game but it was not to be and the game ended with the Brahmas on top.

The final shot count was 30-22, advantage Brahmas.

Brett Jaeger made 21 saves on 22 shots and earned the win. His record goes to 5-6-1. Kevin Nastiuk made 28 saves on 30 shots and takes the loss. His record goes to 4-4-0.

The Brahmas went 0 for 5 on the power play. Corpus Christi went 0 for 3. The Brahmas were assessed eight minutes on four infractions; The Ice Rays received 12 minutes on six infractions.

The 3rd Star of the game went to Luke Sellars for his performance on defense tonight. The 2nd Star was awarded to Elias Godoy who had two assists on the night and the 1st Star went to Brett Jaeger for his performance in net.

You can view the box score here

You can view my photos from the game here

Observations:

• In nine games against Corpus since 2007-08, Grant Jacobsen has 15 points (7 goals, 8 assists) against Corpus. (Thanks to Greg Rajan for pointing this out)
• Strome: four points in two games and leads the Brahmas in shot percentage (.222).
• Not to take anything away from the Brahmas' performance, but Corpus Christi is a better team than the one we saw tonight. Maybe they were tired from whooping Arizona's tail last night or maybe it was a brutal bus ride. I don't know, but this team is better than the two shots attempted in the middle frame.
• CHL Commissioner Duane Lewis was in the house for tonight's game. Wonder why?
• Tonight ends James Hiebert's two-game suspension. He should be on the ice for tomorrow's game with Bossier-Shreveport.

Photo Credit: Robert Keith