Lone Star Brahmas – Wichita Falls Wildcats Preview For Feb 4
By Kirk Estes
The Lone Star Brahmas will make a short one game road trip to Wichita Falls on Wednesday to face the Wildcats in a contest with NAHL South Division playoff implications. With just 20 games left on the regular season schedule, the Brahmas set one point ahead of third place Wichita Falls and six points behind division leading Topeka with two games in hand over the Roadrunners. A road win on Kay Yeager Coliseum ice would provide the Brahmas with a bit of breathing room against the Wildcats and set them up for a run at Topeka. Each game takes on a bit more significance in Lone Star’s quest for the South Division Crown because they have only two head to head games left against Topeka.
The past weekend, Wichita Falls was in town for a pair of games at the NYTEX Sports Centre which left the two teams in the same positions that they came into the series. Lone Star stormed back from an early two goal deficit on Friday to win going away by a score of 6 – 3. On Saturday night they fell behind early again with the Wildcats scoring just 15 seconds into the contest before building a 4 – 0 lead going into the second intermission. Once again the Brahmas fought their way back, but came up just short losing 4 – 3.
Four previous meetings between the two teams have mirrored their overall performance in the standings with the Brahmas holding a one point advantage.
10/03/14 – Brahmas 2 at Wildcats 3 OT
10/04/14 – Brahmas 5 at Wildcats 1
01/30/15 – Wildcats 3 at Brahmas 6
01/31/15 – Wildcats 4 at Brahmas 3
| Last 5 Games | W | L | OTL | Pts |
| Brahmas | 3 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| Wildcats | 3 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
Special Teams
Wichita Falls boasts the number one power play unit in the NAHL yet the Brahmas held them 0 – 4 over the weekend. Lone Star on the other hand had been struggling on the power play with just five goals on their last 40 opportunities entering the weekend where they went 3 – 4. As a result the Brahmas power play climbed two spots to 7th in the league overall at 21.8% and the penalty kill moved from 4th to 3rd at 87.6%. Wichita Falls’ power play still sets atop the rankings they saw their conversion percentage fall from 27.3% to 26.6%. The Wildcats’ penalty kill slid 1.5% to 78.8%.
On the road the Brahmas’ power play falls off a bit to 18.2% on 14 goals in 77 opportunities good for 10th in the league. They will be up against a Wildcats’ home penalty kill unit that has allowed 17 goals in 93 times shorthanded or 81.7% which ranks 15th.
Lone Star’s road penalty kill is ranked 6th in the league allowing only 11 goals on 74 kills or 85.1%. They will need to be on their game against a tough Wichita Falls home power play unit which is third in the league scoring 25 times in 95 opportunities or 26.3%
In their four head to head meetings, the Brahmas are 5 for 14 on the power play while holding Wichita Falls to 1 for 15.
Goaltending Comparison Last 5 Games
| W | L | OTL | SO | GA | GAA | SV | SV% | |
| Brahmas | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 2.40 | 136 | .919 |
| Wildcats | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 18 | 3.60 | 115 | .865 |
Who is Hot (Last 5 Games)
| Brahmas | G | A | Pts |
| Sebastian Vidmar | 1 | 6 | 7 |
| Ludvig Larsson | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Roman Uchyn | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| AJ Vanderbeck | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Storm Wahlrab | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Wildcats | G | A | Pts |
| Matt Koch | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| Jake Townsend | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| Nick Farmer | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Austin Beaulieu | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Colin Staub | 2 | 2 | 4 |
Inside the Game
The game will feature a matchup of the league’s top ranked offense and second ranked defense. Wichita Falls comes in as the only team in the league averaging more than four goals per game at 4.15. The Brahmas’ defense is second only to Janesville in goals against average at 2.13 and second to the Minnesota Wilderness in shots on goal allowed with 23.58. Lone Star’s offense will enter the game ranked 4th in the NAHL at 3.60 goals per game while Wichita Falls’ 3.00 goals against average is 12th and their 28.58 shots on goal allowed is 11th.
Both the Brahmas and the Wildcats know how to close out games. Lone Star is 21 – 0 – 2 when leading after two periods and Wichita Falls is 23 – 1 – 0.
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Five of the NAHL top 30 point scorers will be participating in the game. Lone Star’s Sebastian Vidmar 24G – 35A leads the league in points, goals scored, +/- rating and game winning goals. Teammate Ludvig Larsson 15G – 22A is tied for 28th. The Wildcats Colin Staub 15G – 25A is tied for 18th in scoring while Nick Farmer 17G – 22A and Matt Koch 5G – 34A are tied for 21st. Larsson has played eight fewer games than all three of the Wildcats’ players.
Sebastian Vidmar, Ludvig Larsson, Nick Farmer and Kevin Charyszyn are all tied for 5th in the league in power play goals scored with 8 apiece.
Nearly 30% of Wichita Falls’ scoring and 18% of their goals scored come from the blueline. Matt Koch 5G – 34A is 2nd in the league in defenseman scoring along with Cam Knight 7G – 20A at 8th and Jake Townsend 10G – 16A 9th. Alexey Solovyev 6G – 19A leads Brahmas’ defensemen in scoring and is 11th in the league. Lone Star’s defense has accounted for 22.5% of points and 12% of the goals scored.
TJ Black is 4th in the league with a 2.08 GAA while Jake Kupsky with a 2.15 GAA is 7th. Austin Shaw is 22nd with a 2.77 GAA.
The Brahmas are currently third in the league in penalty minute average per game at 22.25 while Wichita Falls is 20th at 13.55. Much of the difference has come through major penalties and 10 minute misconducts. Lone Star leads Wichita Falls by 6 and 12 in those two categories.
Lone Star averages 4.70 power play opportunities and 4.43 times shorthanded per game compared to 3.85 and 3.78 for Wichita Falls.