BRAHMAS WIN SEASON OPENER IN OT 3-2
NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, Texas (October 16)-It’s back in hockey mode for the 2009 CHL Champions, Texas Brahmas as they kick started the regular season in Colorado Friday night with a 3-2 victory in overtime.
It was an all too familiar scene as it has been a mere five months since the two teams faced one another in the CHL Finals; but last season is in the past and the Brahmas are now defending their title. Only seven minutes in the game and it was well-known faces for the purple and black to give the Brahmas a 1-0 lead when Grant Jacobsen took a feed from linemates Pete Rouleau and Jordan Cameron.
In the middle frame Texas’ Justin Kinnunen and Mike Willemsen were unable to stay out of the penalty box early which proved to be costly when Eagles newly appointed captain, Riley Nelson beat netminder Brett Jaeger for the 1-1 tie. Though the Brahmas will try to differentiate last season’s success from this year, it was difficult not to reminisce Texas’ shorthanded franchise record success from the year before when Jacobsen tallied his second goal of the night at the 8:34 mark with the man disadvantage.
Colorado was not willing to give up without a fight in front of their home crowd and Nelson put his fans on their feet when he pushed the puck past Jaeger’s skate for a 2-2 tie. The score remained tied through regulation, sending the season opener into the extra period.
Cameron sat for the first ten seconds in the box giving the Eagles the 4-on-3 advantage in overtime, but the Texas penalty kill was able to fight it off. A breakaway by Texas newcomer A.J. Gale caused a holding penalty on Eagles Felipe Larranger to give the Brahmas the powerplay opportunity. Just :13 seconds in with the man advantage, Brahmas forward Anders Strome, returning to Texas from 2007-08, beat Eagles goalie Andrew Penner for the game winner. Jaeger was able to stop 28 of 30 shots for Texas and the Brahmas special teams went 1 for 7 on the powerplay and were able to kill 7 of 8 on the pk.
Texas and Colorado will battle it out once again tomorrow evening with the faceoff scheduled for 8:05 PM (CST). Fans can catch all the action on CHL-TV.
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