NORTH RICHLAND HILLS — Brendon Hodge scored two goals Wednesday night, including the game-winner in the shootout, to lead the Brahmas past the Wichita Thunder by the final score of 3-2.
After a scoreless opening frame, both teams notched two scores in the second period. Neil Trimm gave the Thunder a 1-0 lead at 3:07 when he wristed a puck from the slot into the back of the net. The Brahmas evened the score 1-1 at 10:39 as Brendon Hodge fired a slap shot from the right face-off circle that beat Wichita netminder Torrie Jung over his right shoulder.After a Jon Madden roughing penalty, Phil Fox buried home a rebound at 18:40 – just 19 seconds into the man advantage – to give Fort Worth its first lead of the contest, 2-1. For Fox, the score was his 20th of the season.At the 19:20 mark of the middle frame, Wichita defenseman Kevin Young ripped a slap shot immediately off of a face-off in the Brahmas zone that found its way by Fort Worth goaltender Kristofer Westblom. Young’s 17th goal of the season tied the game 2-2.The game would head to overtime still even 2-2. After a scoreless extra frame, the Brahmas took control in the shootout, needing only three attempts to seal the victory. Hodge and Tomas Klempa converted, and Westblom stuffed all four attempts he faced. For Hodge, the goal was his second of the night and 12th of the season. It was also his fourth game-winning goal this season and second in the last three games.Westblom made 27 saves on 29 shots and stopped all four shootout attempts to improve to 21-6-4 in 2012-13. Jung stopped 22 of 24 shots in net for the Thunder, but allowed two scores in three shootout attempts to fall to 18-5-4.With the win, Fort Worth gains two points and moves one point ahead of Wichita for sole possession of second place in the Central Hockey League.The Brahmas host the Arizona Sundogs Friday, March 8 and Saturday, March 9 at the NYTEX Sports Centre. Both games begin at 7:30pm.Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
