NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, TX – The Lone Star Brahmas head north to Wichita Falls for the first time this season to take on the Wildcats.
The Wildcats are currently clinging to second place in the NAHL South Division with the Shreveport Mudbugs right on their tails, while the Brahmas are sitting comfortably in first.
The last time these teams met in December, the red-hot Wildcats were threatening to make big strides towards overtaking the Brahmas for the top spot in the South. That narrative has changed significantly as the Brahmas travel to Kay Yeager Coliseum.
After the Brahmas completed a home sweep of the Wildcats during their last meeting, they used the momentum going into the break and picked up right where they left off, beating the Mudbugs on New Year’s Eve, then posting back to back weekend sweeps of Topeka and Odessa.
With another win against Shreveport this past Monday, the Brahmas are riding an eight-game win streak, tied for their season-high.
Wichita Falls, on the other hand, is looking to get back on the right track. They were inactive this past weekend, but have most recently been swept by the Mudbugs and will certainly be hoping to string together some wins and halt the streaking Brahmas.
That should be a tall task, as the Brahmas are firing on all cylinders. Goaltender Alec Calvaruso is coming off of an excellent weekend in which he posted a shutout against Odessa and gave up only two goals in an overtime win against Shreveport. Max Prawdzik also played a solid game this weekend, with a 32-save performance against Odessa, and with the return of Erik Gordon, the Brahmas now have three reliable goaltenders they can turn to.
Newcomer Anton Rubtsov is expected to make his debut this weekend, with Peter Kessel ineligible to play due to NCAA regulations. Kessel will be eligible to return for next weekend’s series against Topeka.
In the meantime, the Brahmas will be looking forward to seeing what Rubtsov has to offer. Rubtsov, a skilled Russian forward coming out of Sweden’s Wings HC Arlanda, will have an opportunity to show his offensive chops.
Friday’s game will be as scheduled, with puck drop at 7:05 PM. Saturday’s puck drop has been moved up to 5:05 PM. Both games will be broadcasted on HockeyTV.com, so join us as the Brahmas look to push their win streak to a season-high nine games.