Brahmas defeat Sundogs 3-2

Mark Ehl scores game-winner on power play

The Texas Brahmas held off a late rally by the Arizona Sundogs tonight to win the third game of a three-game series at Tim's Toyota Center in Prescott Valley. With the victory, the Brahmas' record improves to 7-5-0 (3-3-0 on the road) for 14 points which places them in fifth place in the Berry Conference. The loss drops the Sundogs' record to 3-7-3 (2-5-1 at home).

Steve Silverthorn allowed two goals on 29 shots but saved the win with a stellar performance in net late in the final frame. His record goes to 4-5-0 with a 2.59 GAA (8th in the league) and a .905 Save Percentage (11th in the league).

Mark Ehl tallied his first power play goal of the season, providing the game winner in the third period.

Andrew Lackner opened up the game’s scoring at the 9:50 mark of the first period. After receiving a feed from Cal Wild, Lackner's slap shot from the point beat a screened Levente Szuper to make it a 1-0 contest.

It was the only score of the period in which the Brahmas out shot the Sundogs 13-8.

Phil Fox extended the Brahmas’ lead to 2-0 with a power play goal at the 6:50 mark of the middle frame, beating Szuper with a one-timer from the left circle. Jordan Kary and T.J. Fox were in on the assist.

A Hooking call on Mark Ehl gave the Sundogs their third man-advantage and Jeff Hazelwood capitalized, putting Arizona on the board at the 17:52 mark after his backhand shot from the bottom of the right circle snuck through the five hole of Silverthorn. Kyle Hood was credited with an assist on the play.

The Brahmas dominated the second period, hammering Szuper with 17 shots compared to the Sundogs' three. After 40 minutes, the Brahmas led 2-1.

A Roughing call on Ryan Hand early in the third put the Sundogs back on the power play and once again, they converted. David Nimmo beat Silverthorn 59 seconds into the man-advantage to tie the game at 2-2.

Arizona defenseman Jason Goulet was assessed two minutes for Tripping a few minutes later and Mark Ehl scored the game-winner at the 8:54 mark, assisted by Kyle Howarth and Brendon Hodge.

The battle waged on and Erik Spady was called twice for Slashing and then for Tripping, but the penalty killers were successful in preventing another goal.

After Arizona had pulled Szuper in favor of an extra attacker with 1:17 left in regulation, Silverthorn faced a flurry of shots and a sliding save at the left goal post in the game’s final seconds highlighted a third period in which the Sundogs out shot the Brahmas 18-10 but were unable to force the game into overtime.

Referee: Peter Tarnaris
Linesmen: Kyle DeMaggio, Chris Zorza

Steve Silverthorn stopped 27 of 29 shots faced in 52:00 of play and earned the win. His record goes to 4-5-0. Arizona's Levente Szuper stopped 37 of 40 shots faced in 58:43 of play and takes the loss. His record goes to 1-4-3.

Both teams went 2 for 6 on the power play. Both teams were assessed 14 minutes on seven infractions.

1st Star: Mark Ehl - 1 Point (1 G, 0 A, 0) - the game-winning goal on 3 shots
2nd Star: David Nimmo (ARZ) - 1 Point (1 G, 0 A, 0) on 3 shots
3rd Star: Phil Fox - 1 Point (1 G, 0 A, 0) on 6 shots

You can view Pointstreak's box score here and their Game Live broadcast here.

The Brahmas will return home overnight and get some rest before beginning preparations for Wednesday night's game against the Sundogs at the NYTEX Sports Centre. On Friday, the Brahmas will host the Laredo Bucks before traveling to Laredo to play the Bucks at the Laredo Energy Arena.

Photo Credit: Les Stukenberg/The Daily Courier