Thursday, February 2, 2012

There are losses and then there are losses...

Brahmas defeated 6-0 in Laredo

March 24, 2006. That's the last time a Brahmas team was shut out 6-0.

The team was on the road at the Chevrolet Center in Youngstown, Ohio for the second game in a three-game series to close out the regular season.

The SteelHounds (who had a 5-2 win the night before after losing ten straight at home) had their way with the Brahmas as five different players (including four players with one goal and two assists each) scored goals on Andrew Martin who had yet to post a win since being claimed off waivers at the end of January.

A sixth goal at the beginning of the third period sealed the shut out for the home team and the fans got a free Big Mac at one of SteelHounds owner Herb Washington's McDonald's franchises.

It wasn't the worst loss for the then Fort Worth Brahmas that season - just 14 days earlier, they were on the receiving end of a 8-0 road loss to the Colorado Eagles.

OK, enough for the trip down memory lane.

What can you say about Wednesday night's game?

The Bucks controlled the first period of play from the drop of the puck. Justin Styffe got the Bucks on the board just 2:04 into the game when he scored a short-handed unassisted goal on Adam Avramenko.

The Bucks were able to kill off two Brahmas power plays, before it was their turn to have the man-advantage due to a Hooking call on Adam Hogg at the 14:58 mark. The Brahmas penalty-killers were successful but the Bucks went back on the power play at the 18:43 mark after an Interference call on Thomas Galiani .

This time David Inman put it past Avramenko with just 13.4 seconds left in the period. Neil Trimm and Matt Boyd assisted on the goal which gave the Bucks a 2-0 lead to end the period.

The Bucks out shot the Brahmas 8-6 in the opening frame.

Laredo continued to dominate the game during the second period of play.

Ryan Sparling scored on another power play at the 3:32 mark. The rebound goal was assisted by David Inman and Adam Rivet.

Rusty Masters scored an even-strength goal at the 6:51 mark, assisted by Ryan Sparling giving Laredo a 4-0 lead.

At the 14:22 mark, it was Neil Trimm’s turn to get on the board with a power play goal, following a Hooking call on Phil Fox. Matt Pierce and A.J. Hau assisted on the goal.

Shortly after the goal, the game took a physical turn as former Buck Ryan Hand dropped the gloves with Justin Styffe. Hand received two minutes for Charging as well as a Fighting major. Styffe received a two minute Fighting (Instigator), a five minute Fighting Major and a 10 minute Fighting (Instigator) Misconduct.

The Bucks out shot the Brahmas 15-13 in the middle frame.

Matt Boyd scored the sixth goal of the night 4:34 into the third period. Neil Trimm earned his third assist of the game and Matt Pierce earned his second assist with the Boyd goal.

The Bucks continued to control the puck throughout the final frame although the Brahmas had a 10-7 shot advantage.

Torrie Jung played flawlessly to earn his second shut-out in less than a week and helped the Bucks earn the 6-0 victory. Adam Avramenko stopped 24 of 30 shots faced and earned the loss in his professional debut. Welcome to the CHL.

The Brahmas characteristically went 0 for 5 on the power play. The Bucks went 3 for 4. The Brahmas were assessed 15 minutes on six infractions; the Bucks received 27 minutes on eight infractions.

Again, what can you say about this game? Best not say anything. Let's just file this one away and forget it ever happened.

Referee: Mark-Andre Lavoie
Linesman 1: James Sanders
Linesman 2: John Grandt

1st Star: Torrie Jung (LAR)
2nd Star: Neil Trimm (LAR)
3rd Star: David Inman (LAR)

You can view the box score here and the GameLive broadcast here.

The Brahmas will remain in Laredo and take on the Bucks again on Friday night with the opening puck drop slated for 7:30 pm CST.

Photo Credit: Robert Keith

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