Central Hockey League: Brahmas take two from Jacks on last-second goal

The Odessa Jackalopes have been in this position before, losing a pair of playoff games at home to Laredo before reeling off four consecutive victories to take that series against the Bucks.

They need for history to repeat itself.

Texas’ Tyler Skworchinski found himself in the right place at the right time, batting in a loose puck with seven seconds remaining in overtime to lift the Brahmas to a 3-2 victory Saturday night in Game 2 of the Southern Conference semifinals at Ector County Coliseum.

Justin Kinnunen of the Brahmas took the shot that Jackalopes goaltender Joel Martin couldn’t control and when the puck dropped straight down to the ice, Skworchinski was there for the rebound.

"When we are playing our game, that's out style," Texas coach Dan Wildfong said. "We were solid in front of our net, blocking shots and then we took advantage of the chances.

"But we know that Odessa has a very good teams and we remember what they did to Laredo last year. We've only won two games and this series still has a very long way to go."

The Jackalopes had several solid scoring chances in the extra period, the best coming when Mike Ramsay’s slapshot from the top of the left circle rang off the left post with 9:08 left in the overtime.

The victory gives Texas a 2-0 lead in the best-of-7 series, with Game 3 set for 7:05 p.m. Wednesday night at the NYTEX Sports Centre in North Richland Hills. Game 4 is scheduled for the same time Friday.

The Jackalopes need to win at least one game to get the series back to the Permian Basin.

"We just need to do a better job of playing 60 minutes," Jackalopes co-captain Kory Karlander said. "In the first game, we took about six minutes off and they scored four goals on us and tonight, we took a couple of shifts off and that was the difference in the game.

"I'd be worried if we were losing and not getting any opportunities. But we're working hard and we've had our chances; now we just need to do a better job of finishing them."

Skworchinski scored a pair of goals on the night, with Lee Jubinville adding the other Texas marker.

Sebastien Thinel and Kory Karlander each scored for Odessa, which went 0-for-8 on the power play and is now 1-for-10 in the series after having the best power-play unit in the Central Hockey League this season.

Dave Van Drunen assisted on both Jackalopes’ goals.

The Brahmas, who didn’t score until the third period in Game 1 on Friday, wasted little time finding the back of the net in Game 2, going up 1-0 before many in the crowd had found their seats.

Texas’ Matt Burto started the play by racing down the left-wing boards, with Odessa defenseman Patrick Mbaraga shoulder-to-shoulder with him the entire way. Somehow, Burto was able to feed the puck from the left circle toward the crease and that’s where teammate Jubinville was able to redirect the puck inside the left post behind Odessa goaltender Joel Martin just 1:54 into the game.

Before the first period was halfway finished, though, the Jackalopes knotted the score on Thinel’s first goal of the playoffs.

Jeff Pierce, however, was also instrumental in the goal, taking the puck on the boards above the left circle and then skating into the center of the Texas zone. Moving around one defender, Pierce found himself tripped on the play, with the puck sliding free toward the goal line.

With referee Dan Drager’s hand up for the delayed penalty on the Brahmas, Thinel swooped in, gathered the puck and then snapped a wrist shot that beat Texas goaltender Brett Jaeger inside the right post at the 9:11 mark.

Skworchinski broke the tie with his power-play goal at the 8:27 mark of the second period and suddenly the Jackalopes were looking at having to battle back or face going down 2-0 in the series heading to the Metroplex.

Enter Karlander and Van Drunen to knot the game just 2:23 into the third period.

With the puck in the left corner of the Brahmas’ zone, Van Drunen battled two different Texas players for nearly 30 seconds before gaining control of the puck.

He found Karlander, who skated behind the net from left to right, moved into the right circle and then into the slot before snapping a wrist shot inside the right post.

Though both teams had chances after that, Martin and Jaeger were up to the challenge to force the extra hockey.