TOPEKA, KS – The Lone Star Brahmas (24-8-1) will open the 2017 portion of their schedule this weekend, as they make their first visit to Topeka this season. The RoadRunners (11-19-3) made two trips to NYTEX Sports Centre in the first half with limited success, as the Brahmas took three of four games with two of them needing more than regulation to decide it.
That series record is fairly indicative of where the two teams currently stand in the NAHL South Division. Lone Star sits atop of the South with 49 points in 33 games played, while Topeka occupies the cellar of the division with 25 points after 33 games.
Even beyond their places in the standings, these are two teams headed in opposite directions.
Topeka is currently mired in a five-game losing streak, having been swept in back-to-back series by Amarillo and Wichita Falls respectively.
Lone Star, on the other hand, is coming off of three straight wins. They’ll be looking to extend that streak this weekend, and they’re in good position to do so.
Drake Glover (2-2–4) and Peter Kessel (3-1–4) lead the Brahmas with four points against the RoadRunners this season. In the most recent game head-to-head, the Brahmas won 3-2 in overtime as Ryan Snowden stopped 49 of 52 shots in the contest.
For the first time in over a month, the Brahmas’ forward lines are at full strength. Before the break, they were hit with a string of injuries and absences, which led to several improvised line combinations and very little consistency from one game to the next.
That shouldn’t be a problem this weekend, and after a long break and just one game last week, the Brahmas will be firing on all cylinders.
The lineup will see one change, though. With goaltender Erik Gordon in Michigan on a stint with the U17 USNDTP team, Max Prawdzik and Alec Calvaruso, newly-committed to Colorado College, will be minding the net this weekend.
Newcomer Prawdzik, a 6-foot-3 goalie on loan from Boston University, is expected to make his Brahmas debut in goal on Friday or Saturday evening. All eyes will be on Prawdzik, as goaltending has been consistently solid for this Brahmas team the whole season.
Lone Star will be searching for a road sweep at the Kansas ExpoCentre on Friday and Saturday night. Puck drop will be at 7:05 PM on both nights. Catch Nicholas Marek on the call at HockeyTV.com.