Lone Star Brahmas – Rio Grande Killer Bees Preview For Mar 13
By Kirk Estes
The Lone Star Brahmas are looking to rebound from their overtime loss on Wednesday when they take the State Farm Arena ice against the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees on Friday. This weekend will be games nine and ten in the season series between the two teams. The Brahmas won the first five games against the Killer Bees before Rio Grande swept Lone Star in a pair of 3 – 2, seven round shootout contests. However, the Brahmas came back to win the last meeting in overtime.
11/14/14 Killer Bees 1 at Brahmas 2
11/15/14 Killer Bees 2 at Brahmas 3
12/05/14 Killer Bees 2 at Brahmas 4
12/06/14 Killer Bees 0 at Brahmas 4
12/29/14 Brahmas 3 at Killer Bees 0
02/12/15 Brahmas 2 at Killer Bees 3 SO
02/13/15 Brahmas 2 at Killer Bees 3 SO
02/14/15 Brahmas 2 at Killer Bees 1 OT
Lone Star was in Corpus Christi to face the Icerays on Wednesday in their first game since taking over the top spot in the NAHL South. The Icerays jumped out to a two goal lead heading into the first intermission giving the impression that they may run away with the game. That was before AJ Vanderbeck kicked up the offense in the second scoring a natural hat trick to give Lone Star the lead. Unfortunately the lead was short lived with Corpus Christi knotting it up. After a scoreless third period the game went into overtime where the Icerays netted the game winner. TJ Black got the start, but was gone after giving up the two goals in the first. Jake Kupsky went the rest of the way and picked up the hard luck loss.
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Last weekend, the Killer Bees were in Odessa and came away with two losses. In game one Anthony Croston scored Rio Grande’s only goal against four from the Jackalopes. In the second, Dallas Gerads had a pair on a shorty and the power play then Guy Roby pulled them even. That is where the comeback came to a halt as Odessa scored twice in the third. Ben Johansson started in net, but was replaced by Nick Schmit after giving up the four first period goals. Schmit gave up the two goals in the third for the loss. Game two saw the Killer Bees holding a one goal lead after the first on goals from Dean Balsamo and Elliott Loraine, both on the power play. Gerads scored his third of the weekend early in the second before Odessa scored twice. After a scoreless third and overtime the contest went to a shootout with Odessa scoring the only goal. Schmit was once again on the losing side of the ledger.
Last 5 Games
| W | L | OTL | PTS | |
| Brahmas | 4 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| Killer Bees | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
Special Teams
Overall the Brahmas’ power play unit remains 7th in the NAHL converting 53 of 258 opportunities. Rio Grande is setting four spots behind the Brahmas at 16.14% on 36 goals in 223 chances. Lone Star has had the 2nd highest number of power play opportunities in the league. On the penalty kill, Lone Star comes in at 88.16% allowing 29 goals on 245 kills which has them ranked 2nd in the league. Rio Grande on the other hand is 20th in the league giving up 47 goals on 225 times shorthanded.
On the road, the Brahmas see their power play slip to 10th in the league at 18.3% on 22 goals in 120 opportunities. They will be up against a Rio Grande kill that is 16th in the league on home ice. The Killer Bees have allowed 17 goals on 91 penalty kills.
The Lone Star road penalty kill also slips a bit from their overall numbers. They currently rank 6th in the NAHL on 16 goals allowed in 117 penalty kills. Rio Grande will counter with a home power play that has converted 17 of 92 opportunities or 18.5% which has them at 9th in the league.
Head to head, the Brahmas power play is at 13.2% on 5 goals in 38 power plays while holding Rio Grande to 4 – 36 or 11.1%.
Goaltending Comparison Last 5 Games
| W | L | OTL | SO | GA | GAA | SV | SV% | |
| Brahmas | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 1.8 | 108 | 0.923 |
| Killer Bees | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 4.4 | 118 | 0.843 |
Who is Hot (Last 5 Games)
| Brahmas | G | A | PTS |
| Ludvig Larsson | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Sebastian Vidmar | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| AJ Vanderbeck | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Alexey Solovyev | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Two Tied at | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Killer Bees | G | A | PTS |
| Dallas Gerads | 6 | 2 | 8 |
| Anthony Croston | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| Elliot Lorraine | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Stathis Soumelidis | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Evan Bell | 2 | 2 | 4 |
Inside the Game
Lone Star’s defense continues to be the key to their success. They come into the series ranked 2nd in the league in both Shots Allowed per Game and Goals Against Average at 24.15 and 2.19 respectively. They have the 6th best Save Percentage in the league at 0.910 %
Rio Grande is 10th in Shots Allowed at 27.74, 13th in Goals Against with a 3.06 GAA and 20th with a 0.890 SV%. Offensively the Killer Bees are 18th in the league averaging 2.60 Goals per Game.
The Brahmas have two players among the top 11 in scoring in Sebastian Vidmar (29G – 44A) and Ludvig Larsson ( 20G – 32A). Anthony Croston (13G – 25A) leads Rio Grande and is ranked 50th in the league.
Among defensemen, Alexey Solovyev (10G – 22A) is 10th in the league and Anton Santesson (7G – 20A) is tied for 16th. The Killer Bees’ highest ranked defenseman is Evan Bell (4G – 8A) at 75th.
TJ Black and Jake Kupsky form the best goal tending tandem in the league by far. Black comes in with a 1.96 GAA which is 3rd best in the league and Kupsky has a 2.21 GAA good for 7th. Ben Johansson has been playing well for Rio Grande and is currently 14th in the league with a 2.62 GAA and Nick Schmit with a 2.90 GAA is 25th in the NAHL.
The Brahmas have a 1.22 GAA and a 0.936 SV% against Rio Grande. The Killer Bees have a 2.34 GAA and a 0.899 SV% in those same games.
The Brahmas have four of the top 25 defensemen in +/- Ranking. Caleb Thompson +19, Anton Santesson +18, Hayden Hanson +16 and Johan Steen +13.
For the second week in a row the Brahmas will face one of the most penalized players in the league. In their games against Corpus Christi they saw league leader Travis Howe who has been hit with 221 PIMs. This week it will be Rio Grande’s Connor Wood who with 190 PIMs is second only to Howe.
Rio Grande 21.11 minutes per game and Lone Star 20.57 minutes per game are the 5th and 6th most penalized teams in the NAHL.
Alexey Solovyev leads all defensemen with three shorthanded goals and is 4th overall in the league.
The Killer Bees are 13 – 7 – 3 at home while the Brahmas are 11 – 8 – 7 on the road. However the Brahmas have been playing better away from the NYTEX Sports Centre lately going 4 – 0 – 1 in their last five road games.
Lone Star has a per period goal differential of +20 / +13 / +41 while Rio Grande has a 0 / -20 / -2 differential. The Brahmas’ +74 goal differential is second only to Janesville’s +89.
AJ Vanderbeck , Sebastian Vidmar and Oskar Andren all have three or more goals against Rio Grande this season. Dallas Gerads is the only Killer Bee with multiple goals against Lone Star.
Dallas Gerads is on a three game goal streak for Rio Grande.
The Brahmas are on an 11 game Road Non-Loss streak which is tied for the longest current streak in the league.