Photo courtesy of: Allen Americans

In the second of three games during the St. Patrick’s Day weekend, the Allen Americans, who currently lead the CHL with 83 points, came back from a 5-2 loss to the Brahmas Friday night to defeat the cross-metroplex rivals 4-3 in overtime.  The series was the final time the two teams would face each other before playoffs.

Both teams fought to keep control of the game, resulting in a scoreless first period. Allen’s Tyler Ludwig opened up scoring in the game just two minutes into the second period, though, and the battle truly commenced.  Fort Worth’s Tomas Klempa returned the goal five minutes later. Again Allen, determined to hold the lead, scored with Darryl Bootland netting his first goal of the game while on the power play. Fort Worth returned the goal on a 5-on-3 power play with only three minutes remaining in the period. Ross Rouleau’s goal kept the teams, again tied headed into intermission.

The final period remained scoreless until 12:14, when Klempa, scoring his second of the night and 22nd of the season, netted another shorthanded goal for the Brahmas. But a lightning-quick 20 seconds later, Allen’s Trevor Hendrikx returned the goal, tying the game yet again.

Overtime lasted only 21 seconds with Bootland netting his second of the night.

The Americans kicked off Sunday’s game with the first goal of the night, a quick shot by Adam Pineault. The Brahmas, as in Saturday’s game, would not allow Allen the lead, as Austin Mayer scored a tying goal just minutes later. Allen would retake the lead as Mike Montgomery scored just before heading into the first intermission.

Fort Worth would tie the game to start the second period, off a shorthanded goal by Sy Nutkevitch. The Brahmas then took their first lead of the game with Phil Fox scoring on the power play.

The Brahmas would hold the lead through the second and into the third before pulling further away with a goal by Calin Wild that put Fort Worth up 4-2 over Allen. The Americans tried to rally back, with first-time-CHLer Todd Robinson scoring the final goal of the game, leaving the Americans one goal short of overtime with a final score of 4-3.

Next up for the Americans is the Wichita Thunder who trails the Americans by just three points in the league. The game begins at 7:05 p.m. Tuesday at the Allen Event Center.

Brahmas and Americans facing off (Photo credit to Melissa Grissom)

The Allen Americans saw their three game winning streak snapped by the metroplex rival Fort Worth Brahmas at the NYTEX Sports Centre tonight before a crowd of almost 2,400. The game was the 15th time the teams have met thus far this season.  Aaron Dell, who started his 39th game of the season in goal, stopped 15 out of the 20 shots he faced. Adam Pineault and Jarret Lukin were the two goal scorers for the Americans.

The Fort Worth Brahmas hit the ice with force, refusing to let the Americans get into the zone. The Brahmas took a 1-0 lead over the Americans as Ricky Helmbrecht scored his first goal of the season. The puck went past Aaron Dell’s blocker at the 15:57 mark in the first period. The Americans did not have a shot on goal for almost 16 minutes with the first shot coming while on the power play. Allen tied the game up at 1-1 with a goal by Adam Pineault that went through Brad Fogal’s five hole at the 3:37 mark in the first period. Darryl Bootland, the Allen Americans second leading goal scorer with 20 goals, almost took a shot on goal, but the puck went wide.

The second period was fairly quiet, lacking significant action. The best scoring chance for the Americans in the period came during a power play when Jason Deitsch beat Fogal at the net, but the puck rang off the post, keeping the game tied at 1-1.

Shortly after an expired Brahmas power play, at the 17:33 mark, Tomas Klempa tucked the puck past Aaron Dell’s left skate, pushing the Brahmas ahead 2-1 in the third period. The goal was Klempa’s 18th goal of the season. The Brahmas extend their lead to 3-1 with another goal Tomas Klempa, his second of the game, while shorthanded at the 12:14 mark.  Brahmas forward Phil Fox almost made it 4-1 but the referees waved off the goal, saying the puck was kicked in.

The Brahmas took the 4-1 lead with 3:27 left in the third period as Austin Mayer scooped up the puck and scored on a one-on-one breakaway. Mayer’s shot sailed through the five hole of Aaron Dell. The goal was Mayer’s 10th of the season. The Brahmas added yet another goal, making it 5-1 with 1:14 left in the third period. The goal came on the power play with a shot from the right circle from Austin Mayer for his second goal of the game. The Americans made it 5-2 with only 45 seconds remaining in the game while on the power play. Jarret Lukin slapped the puck past Fogal for his 17th goal of the season.

The teams face each other again tomorrow night at 7:30 at the NYTEX Sports Centre.