Ryan Hand smacks Bloomington's Marc Rechlicz around during Saturday night's game

Blaze Extinguished!

Brahmas sweep two-game series with 5-2 win

The Texas Brahmas completed their two-game sweep of the visiting Bloomington Blaze with a commanding 5-2 victory on Saturday night at the NYTEX Sports Centre. With the win, the Brahmas record moves to 5-4-0 (.556) and their home record improves to 4-2-0.

The Brahmas have now won five of their last six games and improve to 5-4-0, while the Blaze fall to 1-4-2.

Steve Silverthorn stopped 29 of 31 shots faced and earned his third consecutive win, pushing his record to 3-4-0 with a 2.56 GAA and a .905 Save Percentage.

Rookie forward Phil Fox earned his first professional hat trick, scoring the third, fourth and fifth Brahmas goals of the evening, including the eventual game winner.

The Brahmas scored first and quickly, just 2:12 into the game, when Brendon Hodge got hold of the puck at the top of the crease following a save by Blaze goalie Marco Emond and tapped it in for his third goal of the season. Cal Wild and Chad Woollard were credited with the assists.

Blaze defenseman Aaron Dawson tallied the first of his two power play goals at the 7:23 mark, following a Tripping call on Alex Curran. Dawson put back a rebound, beating Steve Silverthorn to make it a 1-1 contest.

The Brahmas countered just 57 seconds later, when Chad Woollard took possession of a blocked shot and raced the down ice to beat Emond on the stick side to give the home team a 2-1 lead at the 8:20 mark.

The Brahmas out shot the Blaze 16-6 in the first 20 and headed in to the locker room with the Blaze reduced to a controlled burn.

Phil Fox went to work early in the middle frame and lit the lamp, unassisted at the :44 second mark when the Blaze could not clear their zone and Fox beat Emond to make it 3-1. Blaze coach Paul Gardner pulled Emond and Zane Kalemba was sent in to defend the Blaze net.

A holding call on Adam Hogg helped Bloomington cut the deficit to 3-2 on Dawson’s second power play goal of the night, a put back from the left side at the 2:48 mark.

Ross Rouleau and Blaze forward Marc Rechlicz traded slashing calls at the 11:58 mark and two minutes later, Jason Dale was called for a cross-check on Jordan Kary in front of the Brahmas' crease (a crime in these here parts), illustrating the need for a message to be sent to the Blaze bench.

First things first.

Phil Fox extended the Brahmas' lead back to 4-2 with his second goal of the night, assisted by Hogg and Kary.

Following the score, the Brahmas' Ryan Hand dropped the gloves with Rechlicz, who was quickly wrestled down to the ice after receiving an adequate number of blows to the head by our new southpaw. Let the message be clear - Don't Mess With Texas! The combatants received matching Fighting Majors and were sent to their respective locker rooms for the remainder of the period.

Bloomington had a 15-13 shot advantage in the middle frame but went into the second break with a two-goal deficit.

There was just one score in the final 20 and once again, it was Phil Fox who increased the Brahmas' lead to 5-2 with a rebound goal at the 3:35 mark with a little help from Erik Spady and T. J. Fox.

The Brahmas out shot the Blaze 14-10 in the third period and 43-31 in the game.

Referee: Tudor Floru
Linesmen: Nathaniel Farkas, T.J. Nua

Steve Silverthorn stopped 29 of 31 shots faced and earned the win, moving to 3-4-0; Marco Emond stopped 15 of 18 shots in 20:44 played and takes the loss. His record goes to 0-3-1. Zane Kalemba stopped 23 of 25 in 39:16 played.

The Brahmas went 1 for 4 on the power play; the Blaze went 2 for 5. Texas was assessed 17 minutes on seven infractions. Bloomington was assessed 15 minutes on six infractions.

1st Star: Phil Fox - 3 Points (3 G, 0 A, +2) including the game-winner on 5 shots
2nd Star: Chad Woollard - 2 Points (1 G, 1 A, +2) on 3 shots
3rd Star: Calin Wild - 2 Points (0 G, 2 A, +2) on 3 shots

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

You can view my game photos here. As always, it takes time to edit the 900+ shots taken, so please be patient and keep checking back.

The Brahmas will leave for Prescott Valley, Arizona on Tuesday evening to prepare for a three-in-three series against the 2-5-3 Sundogs at Tim's Toyota Center beginning on Thursday night at 8:05 CST. The Sundogs are 1-2-2 at home and 0-1 in OT. You can watch all the action on CHL-TV.

Photo Credit: Robert Keith