Lone Star Brahmas – Odessa Jackalopes Preview For Jan 2
By Kirk Estes
The Lone Star Brahmas will have an opportunity to exact a bit of revenge this weekend when the Odessa Jackalopes are at NYTEX Sports Centre for a two game series. The Brahmas went into Odessa last weekend for the first two games of a three game road trip and after taking game one 6 – 2, they came up short on Saturday 2 – 4. After the split in Odessa, the Brahmas traveled to Hidalgo and picked up a 3 – 0 against the Killer Bees.
On Friday night at the Ector County Coliseum, Lone Star jumped out to an early lead on first period goals by Cody Wickline and AJ Vanderbeck. Odessa had the only scoring in the second period from Kenny Hausinger and the Brahmas went into the final stanza up one. That is when they put their foot on the accelerator and pulled away from the Jackalopes with goals from Sebastian Vidmar, Roman Uchyn, Pat Egan and Liam Stirtzinger. Leo Lumm had a late goal for Odessa. TJ Black turned aside 19 of 21 shots for the win. Saturday night, however, was a different story. It was Odessa taking a lead into the third after scoring once in each of the first two periods with Andrew McLean and Razmuz Waxin-Engback doing the damage. Vidmar scored early in the third to pull the Brahmas within one, but Alex Alger and Waxin-Engback scored twice more for the Jackalopes. Vanderbeck had a late goal with the extra attacker. Jake Kupsky had a rough night making 19 saves in the loss.
In Rio Grande on Monday night, it was good goaltending and defensive play that set the table for a Lone Star Brahmas shutout. The defense allowed only two shots on goal in the first period and Anton Santesson made two big plays early in the second before Alexey Solovyev put the Brahmas up one with an unassisted shorthanded goal. Vidmar and Egan both tallied empty netters late in the third to ensure the win. Black logged his first shutout of the season with 12 saves.
The Brahmas have played Odessa six times through the first half of the season and hold a 5 – 1 – 0 against the Jackalopes outscoring them 30 – 15.
| Last 5 Games | W | L | OTL | Pts |
| Brahmas | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| Jackalopes | 2 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
Special Teams
Lone Star’s special teams have performed much better than Odessa’s this season. The Brahmas’ power play is currently ranked 5th in the league compared to the Jackalopes who come in at 13th. Lone Star has been masterful at drawing penalties with the second highest total of power play opportunities this season. They have gone on the man advantage 159 times which is 31 more than Odessa. When comparing penalty kills the numbers are even more in the Brahmas’ favor. Their penalty kill is 3rd in the NAHL while Odessa is last in the league. Head-to-head this season the Brahmas are 12 – 39 at 30.8% plus two shorthanded goals against the Jackalopes while holding Odessa to just 5 – 27 or 18.5%. Odessa has managed one shorty against the Brahmas.
At home the Brahmas’ power play is at 23.1% with 21 goals in 91 opportunities which has them ranked 5th in the league. Odessa will counter with a road penalty kill ranked 22nd at 76.0% after allowing 23 goals on 96 penalty kills.
Lone Star’s home penalty killing is humming along at 88.5% good for 3rd in the NAHL. The Brahmas have allowed only 9 power play goals on 78 kills. They will be facing a Jackalopes road power play unit which is ranked 15th in the league scoring 12 times in 75 opportunities or an even 16.0%
Goaltending Comparison Last 5 Games
| W | L | OTL | SO | GA | GAA | SV | SV% | |
| Brahmas | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 2.20 | 111 | .910 |
| Jackalopes | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 4.00 | 144 | .878 |
Who is Hot (Last 5 Games)
| Brahmas | G | A | Pts |
| Sebastian Vidmar | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| AJ Vanderbeck | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Pat Egan | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Cody Wickline | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Ludvig Larsson | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Jackalopes | G | A | Pts |
| Alex Alger | 3 | 5 | 8 |
| Corey Hoffman | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| Razmuz Waxin-Engback | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| Kenny Hausinger | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| Two Tied at | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Inside the Game
Lone Star is ranked 1st in the NAHL in Goals Against Average at 2.03, 6th in Save Percentage at .912 and 4th in Goals Scored Per Game at 3.48. Odessa is 24th in both Goals Against Average and Save Percentage at 4.39 and .865. They are 13th in Goals Scored Per Game with 2.82.
The Brahmas have points in 10 of TJ Blacks last 11 starts with a 9 – 1 – 1 mark.
Roman Uchyn is tied with Jake Hamilton for 3rd in the league with 105 penalty minutes. Hamilton also leads the league with 5 major penalties. Odessa tops in the NAHL in penalty minutes with 861, majors with 21 and game misconducts with 12.
Sebastian Vidmar 21G – 23A is 2nd in the league in scoring while Kenny Hausinger 14G – 23A is 4th. Vidmar’s 21 goals and 7 game winning goals leads the league.
Ludvig Larsson 9G – 19A is 2nd in the NAHL with 13 power play assists and has a total of 18 power play points.
More from Dallas Sports
- Re-grading the Dallas Cowboys 2017 draft: Looking back
- Dallas Cowboys defense is great but also has room for improvement
- FC Dallas products play major role in USMNT win over Honduras
- Mavs Gaming and WWP Honor Mental Health Month
- Texas Rangers: 3 biggest questions this offseason
Sebastian Vidmar +25, Anton Santesson +14 and Caleb Thompson +14 are all in the top 20 in the league +/- Ratings.
Alexey Solovyev 6G – 12A is tied for 4th in goals scored by a defenseman. Two of his six goals have been scored shorthanded. Bud Madej and Odessa’s Lane Valimont with 5 goals apiece are tied for 12th in the league.
TJ Black is 3rd in the league with a 1.93 GAA and Jake Kupsky is tied for 6th with a 2.10 GAA. Newcomer Tanner Creel has started the last four games for Odessa and has a 2.84 GAA with a .908 SV%. Robin Johansson who Creel displaced as the number one goalie, is 3rd with 585 saves and 2nd in losses with 10. He has a 4.34 GAA.
The Brahmas are riding a 16 game home win streak a full 7 games ahead of the next longest streak in the league. Lone Star has not lost on the NYTEX Sports Centre ice so far this season. Odessa is fighting through a 14 game road Non-Win streak.
Odessa has made one roster move since the last time they met the Brahmas trading D Tim Faulkner to Fargo of the USHL. Faulkner played in two games against the Brahmas with no points and 19 penalty minutes.
Lone Star has outscored their opponents 50 – 19 in the third period this season which is why they are 20 – 0 – 2 when leading or tied after two periods of play.
Sebastian Vidmar is on a four game goal scoring streak and a seven game point streak.
The Brahmas defense has been dedicated to blocking shots this season. They allow the fewest shot on goal per game at 23.00. Odessa on the other hand is 19th in the league allowing 32.61.