Brahmas Rebound For 3 – 0 Shutout of Jackalopes
By Kirk Estes
Photo Courtesy of David Dudich: Sebastian Vidmar had an unassisted second period goal on a great individual effort and assisted on a third period power play goal in the Brahmas 3 – 0 victory over Odessa.
The Lone Star Brahmas were looking to get even with the Odessa Jackalopes after the 4 – 3 loss on Friday night. Lone Star also needed the critical two points in their efforts to hold onto fifth place in the NAHL South Division.
They got out to a two goal lead in the opening period. The initial goal came on their first power play of the game. The Brahmas set up in the zone and were moving the puck around the perimeter for a shot from the point by Conner Enciso. Anthony Mousseau tipped it on the way through and Roman Uchyn put the rebound behind Eric Hancock at the 10:54 mark. The second goal was all Sebastian Vidmar. The Brahmas were applying pressure deep in the Jackalopes zone when Odessa took control of the puck and Jake Kreutzer started up the near side. Vidmar robbed Kreutzer blind at the top of the near circle, turned and drove to the front. He forced Hancock to clamp down on the near post then slid past him and put it over the right pad.
The second period was full of scoring chances for both squads but the netimiders held tough to keep the period scoreless. Odessa had their first power play opportunity of the night late in the stanza but could muster only two shots on goal from the outside with the man advantage.
Lone Star tallied once again on the power play at 6:59 of the third on a beautiful feed by Vidmar. On the play, Enciso sent the puck from the point to Vidmar at the top of the near circle. The big Swede found Mousseau on the backdoor with a cross ice pass and Mousseau onetimed it into the back of the net.
After the final horn sounded as the Brahmas were coming off the bench to congratulate Black, Derek Brown went after Hogan Davidson setting off a couple of skirmishes. Connor Thie came into the pile and squared off with Davidson in front of the Brahmas bench. Davidson was being held by a linesman the whole time with Thie trying to land punches. They ended up in a pile on the ice and Davidson got back to his feet and returned the favor to Thie with three big upper cuts while the linesman had Thie in a headlock. While all that was going on Andrew McLean and Ryan Watson paired up at center ice. Watson landed a couple of short right jabs before McLean came back with a couple overhand rights. Watson got his right loose and landed a couple square on the button. McLean decided he had enough and wrestled Watson to the ice. Nick Blase and Matt Beranek paired off as well and a couple punches were thrown but they were quickly separated. Due to the timing of Brown’s move against Davidson, both Blase and Kellen Wasell were hit with leaving the bench majors despite the fact that they were not coming off the bench to fight but to celebrate the shutout victory with their goaltender.
Vidmar was pushing and shoving with one of the Jackalopes players when what appeared to be an off ice official came out of the penalty box area and gave Vidmar a forearm to the chest then got in Vidmar’s face before the linesman intervened and motioned the official off the ice. In all, there were 137 PIMs handed out at the 20:00 mark of the third.
Photo Courtesy of David Dudich: TJ Black picked up his fourth shutout of the season blanking Odessa on 35 saves.
TJ Black was stellar in net making 35 saves for the shutout win. A big shout out has to go to the Brahmas’ blueliners as they limited the Jackalopes scoring opportunities despite Lone Star playing their fourth straight game with only four healthy defensemen.
The Brahmas were outshot 35 – 28, but converted 2 of 5 power plays while holding the Jackalopes scoreless on two man advantages.
Elsewhere Around the NAHL South Division
The Wildcats held a 2 – 1 lead at the end of two on goals by Will Vosejpka and Tyler Ledford, but a Vosejpka holding penalty with six second left in the period carried over to the third. Amarillo got the game knotted up on the power play and the game ended up going to a shootout. In the shootout Rudy Junda, Ben Kucera, Sam Piazza and Josh Haverstrom all scored on Paul Berrafato while David Zevnik allowed only two Bulls goals for the win.
The Road Runners got the help they needed from Wichita Falls, but could not capitalize. Had Topeka been able to grab the win they would have been tied with Amarillo atop the division entering the final week of play. The Road Runners held a 2 – 1 lead going into the third, but goals from Lester Lancaster and Logan Wending brought the Jr. Blues back for the 3 – 2 win. Stefanow Lekkas made 32 saves in net for Springfield.
Corpus Christi at Rio Grande
The Icerays scored a 2 – 1 come from behind win over the Killer Bees to keep the pressure on the Brahmas in the race for fifth place in the division. We Michaud tallied the game tying goal in the second on the power play and then Brad LeLievre scored what would be the game winner early in the third. Ben Myers was in net for the win.
Current NAHL South Division Standing
With only two games left to play for both Amarillo and Topeka, the top spot in the division is still up for grabs. Both teams finish their regular season on the road next weekend. The Road Runners will be in Wichita Falls facing a Wildcats team that they have a 4 – 1 – 1 record against this season. They will need to take care of business and look for some help from the Jackalopes at home against Amarillo. The Bulls have a 4 – 1 – 0 record against Odessa this season.
| TEAM | GP |
W
L
OTL
PTS
PCT
xAmarillo
58
38
14
6
82
0.707
xTopeka
58
37
15
6
80
0.690
xRio Grande
57
33
17
7
73
0.652
xWichita Falls
57
31
22
4
66
0.579
Lone Star
59
22
33
4
48
0.407
Corpus Christi
57
18
29
10
46
0.393
Odessa
58
15
38
5
35
0.302