Brett Jaeger earned his 100th win as a professional tonight against Tulsa

Brahmas win close one at NYTEX; defeat Oilers 4-3

Four power-play goals highlight Brahmas night

The Texas Brahmas special teams erupted tonight with four power play goals resulting in a 4-3 win over the Tulsa Oilers. Jason Deitsch tallied a pair of goals and an assist and Brett Jaeger earned his 100th professional win in front of a sell out crowd at the NYTEX Sports Centre.

With the win, the Brahmas record goes to 18-13-5 (12-4-1 at home) keeping them entrenched in third place in the Southern Conference, seven points behind Allen and two points ahead of Laredo.

It was a very physical game with the Brahmas delivering some wicked checks. Things took an ugly turn just :13 seconds in when Texas tough guy Nathan Perrott was called for Roughing penalty (after roughing up TJ Caig in front of the Brahmas net), The Oilers responded with a power play goal seven seconds later when Dan Riedel worked the puck past Brett Jaeger to make it a 1-0 game. Aaron Davis and TJ Caig assisted. It was the only lead Tulsa would enjoy in the game.

Thomas Harrison takes a beating from Nathan Perrott and lives to tell about it

At the 6:09 mark Perrott and Thomas Harrison got into it after what I thought was a collision with Grant Jacobsen sent Harrison hard onto the ice. I'm not sure how the bout started but you can bet Harrison took the worst of it, although Perrott would leave the ice with a bloodied ear. Remarkably, both only received five-minute Fighting Majors. You have to hand it to Harrison for taking on Perrott where others merely wet their pants and apologized.

Things went back and forth for a while until the Brahmas special teams capitalized on a tripping call on our old friend Rick Kozak. This time, it was Jason Deitsch (who was tripped by Kozak) who beat Oilers goalie Trevor Cann to tie the game up at one at the 14;50 mark. Justin Kinnunen and Jordan Cameron were credited with the assist.

The Brahmas led the shot count 12-7 in the first frame.

Ice juggler Albert Lucas entertained the crowd during the first intermission. Dan Wilfong, Jordan Cameron and Brett Jaeger all had family from out of town in the house tonight.

A Hooking call on Marty Standish carried over to the beginning of the middle frame and it didn't take long for the Brahmas to score another special teams goal. James Hiebert and Justin Kinnunen set up a shot by Elias Godoy, who used some of his fancy stick handling ability to beat Trevor Cann to make it 2-1 at the 39 second mark.

Later in the period, Marty Standish was sent to the sin bin for a four-minute double-minor for Roughing and Unsportsmanlike Conduct. It took just 10 seconds for Jason Deitsch to score his second power play goal of the night with a little help from Elias Godoy and Todd Paul.

Tulsa had a 9-8 lead in shots, but the Brahmas took the 3-1 lead into the locker room after 40 minutes.

The Standish penalty carried over into the third period and once again, a quick strike by the special teams put another point on the board for the Brahmas. This time is was James Hiebert who put a move on Trevor Cann to make it a 4-1 game. Jason Deitsch and Elias Godoy were in on the assist.

The 303 Rowdies were smelling chicken, but the Oilers would spoil things with a pair of strikes on Brett Jaeger that would appear to change the course of the game.

Former Brahma Derek Merlini sent a pass to fellow defenseman Adam Bartholomay who found the back of the Brahmas net at the 5:02 mark to make it a 4-2 game. Then, just 90 seconds later, Dan Riedel was set up by Aaron Davis and TJ Caig and with the flick of the wrist, Reidel's shot went past Jaeger to make it a one point game.

The Oilers continued the attack but Jaeger kept his cool and made some incredible saves. Bruce Ramsey pulled Cann in favor of the extra attacker with a minute left in the game. A Board Checking call on Ross Rouleau at the 19:26 mark gave Tulsa a two-man advantage for 13 seconds until Marty Standish was called for Goalie Interference. The Brahmas and Jaeger were able to fend off the continuing Oilers attack and the game would end with the home team getting the win and the two points.

Brett Jaeger made 27 saves on 30 shots and earned the win, his 100th as a pro. His record goes to 8-9-1. Trevor Cann made 25 saves on 29 shots and took the loss, his first as an Oiler.

The Brahmas went four for seven on the power play. Tulsa went one for six. The Brahmas were assessed 17 minutes on seven infractions; the Oilers received 21 minutes on nine infractions.

The 3rd Star of the game went to Mark Kolanos according to Pointstreak, but I heard an Oilers player's name last night (pretty sure it was TJ Caig, who had two assists). The 2nd Star was awarded to Elias Godoy who had a goal and two assists and the 1st Star went to Jason Deitsch who had two goals and an assist.

You can view the box score here

You can view my photos from the game here

The Brahmas will host the Arizona Sundogs (13-9-3, 29 points) tomorrow night. Arizona took a 5-4 road loss against Amarillo tonight, snapping a four-game win streak. The game starts at 7:05pm - be there!

Photo Credits: Robert Keith