NORTH RICHLAND HILLS — The Fort Worth Brahmas snapped a five-game streak of one-goal games with a decisive 5-2 victory over Allen on Friday night at the NYTEX Sports Centre.
Tomas Klempa and Austin Mayer each had a pair of goals for Fort Worth (35-19-7), which snapped Allen’s two-game win streak. The Brahmas pulled within four points of the first-place Americans, with the teams meeting again tonight at NYTEX, where the Brahmas are 20-6-6. Allen is a CHL-best 17-8-5 on the road.Brad Fogal won his second consecutive game in goal for Fort Worth, stopping 18 shots.After a scoreless second period, Klempa gave Fort Worth a 2-1 lead 31/2 minutes into the third period, tipping in a pass from Mayer behind the net. He supplied the back-breaker on the penalty kill 5 minutes later, beating a defender to a loose puck in the left faceoff circle, spinning and firing a shot over the shoulder of Allen goalie Aaron Dell to give the Brahmas a 3-1 lead.The fierce rivals matched each other closely for two periods, with a first-period score by Fort Worth’s Ricky Helmbrecht offset by a goal from Allen’s Adam Pineault. In the third period, the teams combined for 27 penalties totaling 97 minutes.Among those were fighting majors to Allen’s Trevor Hendrikx and Fort Worth’s Taylor McReynolds; Allen’s Garrett Clarke and Fort Worth’s Eric Tallent; Allen’s Chris Doyle and Fort Worth’s Cole Ruwe; and Allen’s Drew Daniels and Fort Worth’s Mike Salekin, with all the battles enlivening the sellout crowd of 2,375.The first five minutes of the second period featured a consistent offensive output by the Brahmas, but Dell showed why he’s possibly the CHL’s best goalie. He turned away several quality shots by Fort Worth, one of which he deflected with his left shoulder.The Brahmas struck first, scoring 4 minutes into the game when Helmbrecht tipped the puck under Dell’s right pad after play was kept alive deep in Allen’s zone by McReynolds, who drew one of the assists. The goal was the first for Helmbrecht, who was playing his 12th game with Fort Worth.Allen tied the game and took the momentum with a power-play goal with just over 31/2 minutes left in the first period by Pineault, who tipped a slap shot from the high slot by Tyler Ludwig. Less than 11/2 minutes later, the Americans were back on the power play, with several good scoring chances as Fort Worth struggled to gain control of the puck. Sy Nutkevitch carried out of the zone as the penalty to Phil Fox expired, resulting in a 2-on-1, but the shot trickled wide of the net.Briefly• The Brahmas received two first-place honors in the CHL’s annual “Best of the Best” poll, topping the voting by league representatives as hardest-working team and toughest building to win in (NYTEX). The team placed second in four categories: John Snowden as best on the power play, Ross Rouleau as best defenseman, Dan Wildfong as best coach and the Brahmas fans as most annoying fans.• The assist by McReynolds was his second, and third point, in six games with Fort Worth. He joined the team March 1.Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
