NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, TX – Despite an undisciplined effort the Brahmas powered out a 2-1 win over the Topeka RoadRunners on Saturday night.
Thankfully for the Brahmas sake, Saturday night’s first period was vastly different from that of Friday’s. Martin Mellberg scored his 16th of the season to first flicker the goal light at the 6:09 mark of the first, with an assist coming from Tomas Brejcha. It wouldn’t be the last time the two would hook up but it would be the only scoring of the first frame.
The second period flew by with no scoring as well but just three minutes into the third, that’s when the Euro-tandem hooked up again. Brejcha’s eighth of the year came off of a rebound in front of the net, which he beat Tyler Johnson on a second effort. A 2-0 Brahmas lead lasted for just a few minutes until Quinn Preston sliced it in half for the ‘Runners. With over half the third period to play, the Brahmas relied heavily on the shoulders of Corbin Kaczperski, who withstood the storm.
“Kaz” stopped 24 of 25 in the win, his 25th of the season.
The two teams will square off next weekend once again at NYTEX Sports Centre in Round One of the South Division Playoffs. The North American Hockey League will announce official dates and times on Sunday or Monday.
In the mean time, be sure to help out NYTEX in this year’s Kraft Hockeyville contest. Voting opens on Tuesday and the Brahmas will share all necessary steps to vote on their social media networks and websites. If the Brahmas were to win, they’d receive $150,000 from Kraft for rink renovations.