T.J. Fox (center) is congratulated by teammates Ross Rouleau, Brett Findlay, Andrew Lackner and Chad Woollard following his game-winning goal (click to enlarge)

Brahmas win round two in battle of the Metroplex
 

Texas evens the series at 1-1 with 4-3 win

I'm at the hospital attending to the birth of my third daughter(!) so here's a write-up on last night's game by my friend Maurice Fitzgerald at Pro Hockey News with photos by Chip Crail (the image above is mine).

The Texas Brahmas evened their best-of-seven first round series against the Allen Americans Sunday afternoon with a 4-3 victory on a late goal by T.J. Fox with 2:49 remaining in regulation.

 

Texas jumped on the board first when they sent a deep pass from behind their net to Dan Nichols who was unattended at the Allen blue line, Nicholls fired a wrister past Rejean Beauchemin at 3:17 to give Texas the 1-0 lead. Calin Wild and Erik Spady were credited with the assists on the Nicholls goal.

Allen answered back seven minutes later when Jarret Lukin sent a pretty feed to Bruce Graham who one-timed it over the left shoulder of Mark Guggenberger to knot the score at 1-1. Then Keith Johnson extended the Americans lead to 2-1, firing a shot from the left circle through Guggenberger’s five hole. Jason Deitsch and Colton Yellow Horn assisted on the go ahead goal at 14:21.

 

Brahmas goalie Mark Guggenberger makes a save on Allen Captain Jason Deitsch's shot

It was at this point that the tempers started to flare as Texas knew they couldn’t let the Americans mount another offensive attack like they did Friday night. The Brahmas got under the skin of the Americans with continual slashes and shoves after the whistles, prompting what would become the momentum changer in the second period.

 

Late in the period, the Americans ended up with four players in the penalty box giving the Brahmas a five on three that would carry over into the second period for a total of four minutes. At the conclusion of the first period, shots on goal were 10-9 in Texas’s favor.

 

The Brahmas' Mike Hellyer applies the pressure on Allen's Keith Johnson

The middle frame saw an unfocused and frazzled Americans squad making numerous mistakes, giving up two costly goals in the process. First it was Chad Woollard netting the tying goal just 57 seconds into the five on three power play, assisted by Calin Wild and Ross Rouleau.

 

Then, Andrew Lackner gave the Brahmas the lead back at 13:56 when he was given the gift of a poor clearing pass by one of the Americans forwards. Lackner walked in uncontested and fired a shot past Beauchemin as Texas doubled the Americans in shots on goal, 14-7 at periods end.

 

The third period saw a resurgent Americans squad dominate play for nearly the entire period, regaining the focus they lost the period before. Jason Deitsch fired a hard angle shot at 14:45 that snuck past Guggenberger and once again tied the game 3-3, off passes by Scott Langdon and Keith Johnson.

 

Brahmas players celebrate after their win

With regulation time winding down, the Americans pressed hard for the go-ahead goal and that aggression bit them. With a defenseman out of the play pinching too deep, the Brahmas went on the odd man rush with a two-on-one. T.J. Fox fired a wrister past Beauchemin, assisted by Chad Woollard at 17:11 to give the Brahmas the 4-3 lead on just their first shot of the period.
 

Allen pulled their goaltender for the extra skater but were unable to notch the tying goal as time expired. The Americans outshot Texas 15-2 in the period for a three period total of 31-26 in Allen’s favor.

Mark Guggenberger made 28 saves on 31 shots faced and earned the win, his first in the post-season as a professional.

The Brahmas were assessed 12 minutes on 6 infractions and went for 1 for 4 on the power play. 

Referee: Mark-Andre Lavoie

Linesman 1: John Grandt 
Linesman 2: Bill McGoldrick 

1st Star: Jason Deitsch (ALN) 
2nd Star: Bruce Graham (ALN) 
3rd Star: T.J. Fox

You can view Pointstreak's Box Score here and their GameLive broadcast here. You can view my photos from the game here

 

The series now moves to the NYTEX Sports Centre for the next two games. The puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 pm CST Wednesday evening for Game Three.