Brahmas bounced in Mississippi 7-3

RiverKings score six straight to take four out of four in season series

Yeah, it was that ugly. The Mississippi RiverKings showed that you can mess with Texas tonight in a 7-3 massacre of the visiting Texas Brahmas. The 'Kings came back from a 3-1 deficit to tie the game in the first period and never looked back as they scored a total of six straight on the tandem of Palmer and Jaeger. It was the fourth win out of four games this season between the two teams with Mississippi outscoring the Brahmas 17-6 this season.

Can't call this one the worst beat down of the night though, considering Colorado's 11-6 win over the Tulsa Oilers. Odessa and Allen won tonight as well, so for me, this was a miserable night of hockey viewing.

With the loss, the Brahmas record goes to 31-23-6 with 68 points. Their road record goes to 9-17-4. To make the evening even worse, the Laredo Bucks came back from a 2-0 deficit and defeated the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees 3-2 in a shoot out. Guess what? The Bucks not only clinched a playoff spot but they are back in third place, tied with the Brahmas with a game in hand.

It was Matt Pierce's first game against his former team since the trade that sent him to the Brahmas last month. It was Pierce who jump started the night for the Brahmas when he took advantage of a 2-on-1 opportunity, deflecting the puck past Kyle McNulty for the goal 4:30 into the first period. Mick Berge and Jason Deitsch assisted.

Two minutes later, with Kevin Seibel locked up for Tripping, Mississippi returned the favor on the power play with a goal from Andrew Lackner, assisted by Darrell Stoddard and Ryan Held at the 6:23 mark.

Texas stormed back when rookie Lee Jubinville took a feed from Justin Kinnunen and sent a shot in from the side of McNulty’s net finding daylight for the Brahmas 2-1 lead at the 10:49 mark.

The offense continued to buzz for the Brahmas, resulting in a delayed penalty call when Lee Jubinville was tripped up; but was still given enough time for Scott Thauwald to find Justin Kinnunen, who beat the goaltender glove side at the 12:54 mark.

But Mississippi came back within one when Matt Summers netted the ‘Kings second power play goal of the game on Joe Palmer at the 14:52 mark, assisted by Derek Landmesser and Kevin Truelson.

Palmer was given a 10-minute No Category Misconduct after reportedly shooting the puck towards a linesman. Nathan Perrott served the penalty.

Ryan Held was then hooked on a breakaway attempt and given a penalty shot. He put the teams in a 3­-3 tie headed into intermission when he was able to convert with a beautiful play on Palmer. As a result, Dan Wildfong benched young Joe in favor of Brett Jaeger.

The wild first frame ended with the RiverKings ahead in the shot count 13-9 but the game remained tied at 3-3 heading into the first intermission.

Then it all started to unravel.

Mississippi went a perfect 3-for-3 in their third power play advantage when Kevin Truelson beat Jaeger 3:12 into the second, the lone goal of the period, resulting in the ‘Kings first lead in the game.

Once again, the RiverKings out shot the Brahmas; this time 12-9. They carried the 4-3 lead into the second intermission.

Darrell Stoddard made it a 5-2 lead when he scored his twelfth goal of the year unassisted 3:43 into the third period. In actuality, the Brahmas scored on themselves after sending an errant pass into their own net.

This was followed up by Matt Summers' second goal of the game to double up on the Brahmas 6-3 at the 6:22 mark. Glen Detulleo and Dane Marshall were credited with the assist.

A call on Grant Jacobsen for Hooking resulted in a sixth straight RiverKings goal coming from the stick of Dane Marshall, who caught the Brahmas defense standing still to secure the 7-3 final score. Andrew Lackner and Ken Davis assisted.

The Brahmas out shot the RiverKings 13-11 in the final frame but the RiverKings had the 36-31 advantage in the game.

Brett Jaeger made 12 saves on 14 shots faced and takes the loss. His record goes to 19-14-2-2. In relief, Joe Palmer made 17 saves on 21 shots faced in two separate shifts. Kyle McNulty made 28 saves on 31 shots and earned the win. His record with Mississippi goes to 3-0-0.

The Brahmas went zero for two on the power play. Mississippi went four for four. The Brahmas were assessed 18 minutes on five infractions. The RiverKings received four minutes on two infractions.

The 3rd Star of the game went to Kevin Truelson, who had a goal and an assist on the night. The 2nd Star was awarded to Darrell Stoddard, who had the game-winning goal and two assists and the 1st Star went to Matt Summers, who had two goals.

You can view the box score here and the Game Live broadcast here

The Brahmas will return home to prepare to host the Laredo Bucks on Sunday for the final regular season meeting between the two teams in a game that will decide (once again) who will take sole possession of third place.