Loner Star Brahmas vs Topeka Road Runners Preview
By Kirk Estes
The Lone Star Brahmas will be in Topeka this weekend to face the Road Runners who set in second place in the NAHL South Division standings. Lone Star and Topeka have played only four times so far this season. They split a pair of game in Topeka in their first meeting back in early October, followed by another split at the NyTex Sports Centre in mid November. In both series the Road Runners took game one with the Brahmas rebounding for the win in game two. The goal differential for the four games is a mere two goals.
The Brahmas had picked up nine points in eight games since returning from the Christmas break before running into a determined Killer Bees team last weekend. Rio Grande walked out of North Richland Hills with 4 – 1 and 4 – 2 victories for their bus ride home to Hidalgo. On Friday night the Killer Bees built a four goal lead before Paul Fregeau (Anthony Mousseau) scored the Brahmas only goal midway through the third. Fregeau finished the night an assist shy of the Gordie Howe hat trick having handled Cam Ashley rather easily off the opening draw in the third. On Saturday it looked like Lone Star may have found the answer to the Rio Grande defense taking one goal leads in the first and second periods. Ryan Watson (Fregeau) got them on the board in the first while Alexey Solovyev (Mousseau, Sebastian Vidmar) retook the lead with a second period power play goal. Unfortunately, the two goals was all the offense the Brahmas could muster and the Killer Bees responded with three unanswered goals for the victory. TJ Black took the loss in net on Friday with Jett Salinas between the pipes on Saturday.
Topeka on the other hand went into Springfield, IL and swept the Jr Blues on scores of 3 – 0 and 6 – 1. Game one saw Topeka score a single goal in each period from Tyler Poulsen, Jasen Fernsler and Jake Kamrass while PJ Bridges made 24 saves for the shutout. In game two, Sly Sutter had the only scoring of the first period before the Road Runners opened the floodgates in the second. Poulsen and Kamrass had the first two followed by a pair of Jerad Tafoya tallies for a five goal lead. Springfield finally got on the board early in the third, but Poulsen scored his second of the night to squelch any thoughts of a comeback. Bridges was once again in net for the win.
In head to head action this season Ryan Watson 3G – 0A, Alex Dagnal 1G – 2A and Matt Lison 2G – 0A have led the Brahmas in scoring. However, Dagnal will be unavailable in Topeka serving a league suspension. Fernsler 1G – 3A, Mike Gornall 2G – 1A and Poulsen 2G – 1A have paced the Road Runners. In goal the Road Runners will see some new faces as both Black and Salinas both joined the Brahmas after the teams’ mid November meeting. For Topeka Drew Vogler who started the season as the number one goalie has played in three games against the Brahmas racking up a 2 – 1 – 0 record with a 1.91 GAA. Bridges who has since supplanted Vogler, suffered a shootout loss in his only action against the Brahmas.
| Last 5 Games | W | L | OTL | Pts |
| Brahmas | 2 |
2
1
5
Road Runners
4
0
1
9
Special Teams
Special teams play has been lackluster for the Brahmas all season. That is never more evident than when they are on the road. While the Road Runners’ units are nothing to write home about they have performed much better than Lone Star’s
The Brahmas’ road power play is 23rd in the league at just 7.0% having scored only 5 goals on 71 man advantages. They will be skating against a Topeka home penalty kill that is tied for 10th in the league at 87.4% allowing 11 goals on 87 power plays.
When they find themselves down a man, the Brahmas road penalty kill is last in the league at 73.8%. They have allowed 22 goals on 84 penalty kills. Topeka’s 12th ranked home power play will look to take advantage this weekend. They have scored 15 times on 94 opportunities or 16.0%.
Head Coach Dan Wildfong will have to preach discipline this weekend as the Brahmas will have to stay out of the box to lessen the potential impact of special teams play.
Goaltending Comparison Last 5 Games
GP |
W
L
OTL
SO
GA
GAA
SV
SV%
Brahmas
5
2
2
1
1
13
2.60
114
.898
Road Runners
5
4
0
1
3
3
0.60
140
.979
Who is Hot (Last 5 Games)
| Brahmas | G |
A
Pts
Alexey Solovyev
3
2
5
Anthony Mousseau
0
4
4
Paul Fregeau
1
2
3
Matt Lison
1
1
2
Liam Stirtzinger1
1
2
Road RunnersG
A
Pts
Jake Kamrass
3
4
7
Tyler Poulsen
3
4
7
Cody Champagne0
5
5
Jasen Fernsler
1
3
4
Sly Sutter
1
2
3
Inside the Game
Topeka’s Poulsen and Kamrass with 32 points each on the season are tied for 13th in the league. They will be the only skaters in the series ranked among the league scoring leaders.
Matt Lison’s 14 goals scored have him tied for 16th in the league.
Poulsen is tied for the league lead in power play goals with 10.
Alex Dagnal (127 min.) and Nick Blase (121 min.) are 1st and 2nd in the league in penalty minutes. The Road Runners’ Clint Garris (115 min.) is 4th and Brandon Vuic (104 min.) is 10th. Of Dagnal’s 127 minutes, 59 came in a single game on 1-11-14.
Anthony Mousseau is tied for 6th in the league in power play assists with 10.
Topeka goal tender PJ Bridges is leading the league with a 1.18 GAA and a .955 SV%. He has built a 13 – 3 – 0 record. He has 6 shutouts in 18 games played.
Anthony Mousseau 3G – 17A and Alexey Solovyev 6G – 12A have remained among the leaders in Defenseman scoring all season. Mousseau is currently tied for 12th and Solovyev is tied for 17th. Solovyev’s 6 goals are tied for 4th among blue liners.
TJ Black is 14th in the league in both goals against average and save percentage with a 2.25 GAA and a .918 SV% to go along with 2 shutouts.
The Brahmas are leading the league in 10 Minute Misconducts with 16 and Game Misconducts with 14.
Lone Star has a -464 shots on goal differential for the season while Topeka has a +215 shots on goal differential.
Topeka is 0 – 8 – 3 in games where the trail entering the third period.
Lone Star is 9 – 2 – 3 in games decided by a single goal, but are 4 – 22 – 0 in games decided by more than one goal.