The Texas Brahmas capitalized twice on an early second-period powerplay Tuesday night, propelling them to a 4-2 victory over Allen and a spot in the Berry Conference Finals.
After Jarret Lukin got called for a boarding major and game misconduct with 21 seconds remaining in the first period, the Brahmas were awarded a five-minute powerplay and made it count. T.J. Fox got Texas on the board at the 2:01 mark with his fifth goal of the postseason. Just 24 seconds later, Brett Findlay notched another Brahmas’ powerplay score, extending the lead to 2-0. For Findlay, who played in only his fifth game Tuesday, it was his first goal at the professional level.
The Brahmas took a 3-0 lead when Mike Hellyer deflected a Jim Burichin slapshot past Allen netminder Marco Cousineau 1:59 into the third period. The score was Hellyer’s first professional goal as well.
The Americans made a push late in the third period with two quick goals from Jason Deitsch and Keith Johnson at the 13:11 and 14:04 mark, respectively. But with the Brahmas up by one and the Allen net empty, Hellyer put the finishing touch on the game and series as he buried an empty-netter from the blue line to give the Brahmas a 4-2 advantage.
Brad Fogal held the Americans scoreless for the first 53:11, making 22 saves on 24 Allen shots to earn his third victory of the series. Cousineau stopped 25 of 28 shots en route to his third loss of the series.
With the win, the Brahmas advance to the Berry Conference Finals, ousting the Americans 4-2 in the opening-round, best-of-seven series. Texas now travels to Wichita to face off against the top-seeded Thunder Friday at 7:05 p.m. and Sunday, April 15 at 5:05 p.m. before returning to the NYTEX Sports Centre for Games 3 and 4.
For ticket information, call 817-336-4423 or visit www.brahmas.com.
