Lone Star Brahmas vs Odessa Jackalopes Preview

The Lone Star Brahmas will welcome the Odessa Jackalopes to the NyTex Sports Centre this weekend for the first time since October 26^th. In all, these two teams have faced each other four times this season with the Brahmas picking up six of eight possible points. Each of the four games has been decided by a single goal with one game going to a shootout.

Kellen Wasell with 2G – 2A and Conner Enciso 3G – 0A have led the Brahmas in scoring against Odessa while TJ Black and Jett Salinas both picked up wins in their only games played. Black and Salinas have combined for a 1.44 GAA and a .938 SV%. For Odessa it is Lukas Laub 2G – 1A and Trace Jablin 2G – 0A who have done the most damage against the Brahmas. Yoshihiro Kuroiwa has handled the majority of the work in net for Odessa and was credited with the Jackalopes lone win in the series. He has a 3.02 GAA and a .885 SV%. Eric Hancock took the hard luck shootout loss in his only game against the Brahmas. Hancock allowed only a third period power play goal in regulation, but was touched for three goals in a six round shootout.

The Brahmas are coming off a week that started in the dumps, but finished on a high note. Last Wednesday they were at the Kay Yeager Coliseum, a building that has not been good to them this season, for a single game against the Wildcats. Once again, Lone Star suffered a lop sided 7 – 2 loss. Paul Fregeau and Ryan Watson had the goals for Lone Star. On Friday the Brahmas rolled into the Texas Panhandle for a two game set against Amarillo and despite a 3 – 1 setback, they looked much better than they had in Wichita Falls. Rookie forward Hunter Stanley picked up his first NAHL goal in the loss. Saturday night was the TJ Black show as he, for the second time this season, stymied the league’s most prolific offense. With Black’s play in net, the first period goals from Jan Hudecek and Johan Steen was more than enough in the 2 – 0 shutout. Steen’s goal was the rookie defenseman’s first of the season.

Odessa just finished a two game series at Rio Grande where they pushed the Killer Bees to a shootout on Tuesday evening before eventually losing 2 – 1. Matt Beranek had the lone regulation goal for Odessa in the third while Eric Hancock stopped 29 of 30 shots faced. Hancock allowed only one goal on five chances in the shootout, but it was enough for Rio Grande to claim the win. Wednesday night Odessa staked the Killer Bees to a 3 – 0 lead through the early third period and could not dig out of the hole. Beranek once again had a third period goal for the Jackalopes as their only tally of the game. Kuroiwa picked up the loss in net despite a 40 save performance.

Last 5 Games

OTL

Pts

Brahmas

Jackalopes

Special Teams

Overall the Brahmas power play has crept out of last place in the league based on the strength of their play at home. However, the penalty kill still languished near the bottom of the league in 23^rd. For once they could possibly have the upper hand on special teams going into the series as the Jackalopes trail the Brahmas on both the power play and penalty kill.

As previously mentioned, the Brahmas home power play has been the lone, somewhat, bright spot when it comes to special teams play. They are currently 12^th in the league at 15.5% with 15 goals on 97 opportunities. They will be working against an Odessa road penalty kill that is last in the league at 77.9% allowing 23 goals on 104 kills.

The Brahmas home penalty kill unit is tied at 21^st in the league having allowed 20 goals on 105 times short handed for 81.0%. The Jackalopes come in with the number 16 road power play successful on 12 of 99 opportunities for 12.1%.

Goaltending Comparison Last 5 Games

OTL

GAA

SV%

Brahmas

3.6

145

0.89

Jackalopes

3.6

175

0.907

Who is Hot (Last 5 Games)

Brahmas

Pts

Sebastian Vidmar

Anthony Mousseau

Kellen Wasell

Jan Hudecek

3 Tied at

Jackalopes

Pts

Alex Alger

Chad Guderian

Mathieu Briand

Matt Beranek

Andrew McLean

Inside the Game

TJ Black is tied for 7^th in the league in shutouts with 3. Two of those shutouts have come against the leagues number one offense. Odessa goaltenders have yet to record a shutout this season.

Odessa goaltender Yoshihiro Kuroiwa is leading the league in losses with 20.

Anthony Mousseau’s 10 power play assists has him tied for 8^th in the league which is an interesting statistic considering the Brahmas power play struggles this season.

Among Defensemen, Anthony Mousseau 3G – 20A is tied for 13^th and Alexey Solovyev 6G – 13A is tied for 19th in scoring. Mousseau’s 20 assists and Solovyev’s 6 goals has them tied for 6^th in those categories.

Alex Dagnal is 2nd in the league in PIM’s with 127 and Nick Blase is 5^th with 121. Odessa Forward Matt Beranek has 96 to tie for 16^th in the league.

The Brahmas are averaging 23.96 PIM’s per game which is 3^rd highest in the league. Odessa averages only 16.89 PIM’s per game which is 15^th in the league.

The Brahmas are tied for 5^th in shootout percentage at .378%. They have been successful on 14 of 37 attempts. They are 9^th in shootout against percentage at .257% having allowed 9 goals on 35 attempts. Lone Star is 5 – 2 in shootouts and 7 – 3 overall in games that go beyond regulation.

Odessa is 6 – 18 – 2 on the road this season averaging 2.00 goals scored and 3.54 goals against. The Brahmas are 9 – 10 – 1 at home. They have averaged 2.30 goals scored and allowed 2.90 goals against.

Recent Roster Movement

The Brahmas have made several moves, with an eye toward the future, heading up to the February 6^th Trade Deadline. Forward Paul Fregeau is headed to the USHL, Forward RJ Salvato is now with Kenai River and Forward Todd Koritzinsky joins former Brahmas Mitch Mueller in Wichita Falls. Forward Hogan Davidson joins the Brahmas from Wichita Falls to complete the Koritzinsky trade. Also, former Brahmas Captain, AJ Duggan is set to return from the injured list. Duggan went down with a concussion in October.

It appears as though the Jackalopes have decided to stand pat with their current roster despite having no shot at the post season.

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