Now it’s four in a row.

One week after taking three straight from Alaska to move into fourth place in the NAHL’s South Division, the Texas Tornado defeated the Kenai River Brown Bears 5-2 Thursday night at the DejaBlue Arena at the Dr Pepper StarCenter in Frisco.

That gives the Tornado a four-game winning streak - during which they’ve outscored the opposition 28-9 - and pushes them three points ahead of Alaska for that final playoff spot, while the Brown Bears lost their ninth straight contest. Texas is now 9-3-0 in their last 12 games - three of those wins over Kenai River - and continue to roll after dissolving a double-digit deficit as recently as mid-December.

This game was not nearly as easy as the final score might indicate, though, as the Tornado nursed a one-goal lead into the final minutes before a power play tally by Sam Goodwin with 1:39 remaining clinched the triumph.

“I think that we’re at a state right now where these are tough games to play, because we’ve kind of really started to believe in ourselves, but yet, we still don’t understand that we’re not the 1986 Edmonton Oilers,” Texas coach Dwight Mullins said. “I think that it was a good lesson for us that we have to continue to play our game and bring our effort every night to compete, and if you don’t, you give teams a chance to hang around and that’s what we did. I thought the first 10 minutes were as good as we’ve had. I thought their goalie made some pretty good saves that could have changed the course of the game. At the end of the day, I can’t be upset, I understand how it is to play these kinds of games, on either side, and fortunately for us, we came out on the high side.”

Texas again received offensive contributions from throughout the lineup, as five different players found the back of the net. In addition to Goodwin, Sergei Korostin collected a goal and an assist, while Ben Van Lare, Ryan Fuller and John Bullis - into an empty net with 13 seconds left - also scored. Troy Puente picked up three assists and Andrew Blazek had two.

In goal, the Tornado were buoyed by another outstanding performance from netminder Tommy Callaghan, who made 26 saves, including several big ones with the game on the line in the second and third periods.

“You’re really only as good as your goaltender, and it’s nice to see, along with Sam Goodwin, that Tommy is really maturing into the player that we envisioned he would be at the start of the season,” Mullins said. “And a lot of that has to do with the fact that he’s got the confidence and the comfort of knowing that he’s probably going to get the benefit of the doubt every night, and that can be a positive.”

Callaghan, who has been in net for each of the nine victories in this recent stretch, noted that the team’s improved play of late has made a difference for him.

“One thing, the team definitely is playing better and that always helps a goalie, makes him look better,” Callaghan said. “I’ve been working with my goalie coach (Cam McDonald) a lot, and one thing, I think I’ve gained a lot of confidence throughout the season, so that’s helped, too.”

One other positive for the Tornado is that the power play unit, which entered the contest second-to-last in the NAHL, contributed three goals, including tallies on each of their first two advantages.

“We’ve finally been able to find a group of guys that can really move the puck and make good decisions,” Mullins said. “I still think that we can be a little sharper and a little cleaner, but it’s a work in progress.”

Going into the second period tied 1-1, the Tornado jumped back on top on Van Lare’s team-leading 20th goal of the season at 4:28. With Texas on the power play, Van Lare carried into the Kenai River zone on a 2-on-1 rush. As he entered the left face-off circle, he elected to shoot and fired a quick wrist shot over the glove hand of Brown Bears’ netminder Matt Wichorek.

On the next Texas man-advantage six minutes into the second, Callaghan made a big save as Kenai River’s Garret Bossert sped in on a 2-on-1 rush and ripped a wrist shot from low in the left face-off circle that Callaghan stopped with his shoulder.

A minute later, Van Lare mis-fired with a wide open net, as Blazek, to the right of the crease, fed across to Van Lare on the left side, but with Wichorek down, he shot just wide of the gaping cage.

Callaghan then came up big on Kristian Leach’s breakaway 9:20 into the period, denying his point-blank wrist shot.

About a minute later with the Brown Bears on a power play, Adam Mitchell stole the puck deep in the Kenai River zone and went in alone on a breakaway of his own, but his shot was turned aside by Wichorek.

Just seconds after that, the Brown Bears got the equalizer, as Justin Hancock, who is from nearby Garland, connected for his second goal of the season at 10:25. After receiving a nice cross-ice pass from Nick Simson, Hancock unleashed a wrist shot from the top of the right circle that beat Callaghan over the glove.

With Kenai River gaining the momentum and on another power play two minutes later, Callaghan made a big shoulder save on Sebastien Johansson’s slap shot from inside the blue line.

Callaghan also made impressive stops while the Tornado were on a power play with 4:20 remaining in the period, first denying Bryan Murphy’s in-close shot and then seconds later, coming up with a blocker save on Simson’s wrist shot from the slot.

“The guys helped me out in the first little bit and I just tried to keep us in the game and do whatever I can to stop the puck so that we have a chance to win every game,” Callaghan said modestly.

Mitchell almost gave Texas the lead with 2:43 left in the second, as he raced in on a breakaway, but he was pulled down by Tad Norris before reaching the net, although Wichorek still had to make a good save, managing to stop the rolling puck just in front of the goal line.

That gave Texas another power play, and although they didn’t score, they did generate opportunities and momentum and ended up coming up with the game-winner 12 seconds after it expired. John Kruse started the play by making a quick wrap-around attempt, but Wichorek made a fabulous diving save at the left post with the paddle of his stick. But with the puck still lying there, Fuller charged the net and poked it through before Wichorek could cover it up, giving the Tornado a 3-2 lead with just 31 seconds remaining in the period.

The goal was Fuller’s 14th of the season and the 62nd of his career, moving him past Geoff Smith into third place on the Tornado’s all-time list.

It also gave the Tornado the lead and some momentum heading into the third period. With the Tornado on the power play, Wichorek made some big saves to keep his team in the game, making an impressive glove save on Korostin 8:20 into the third with Texas on a 27-second 5-on-3 advantage.

Wichorek then thwarted Korostin’s booming one-timer from just inside the blue line through a screen 30 seconds later, and a minute after that, made a nice sliding pad stop on Blazek’s one-timer from low in the right circle.

Callaghan came up with a big save of his own with Kenai River on the power play with 7:33 remaining when he stopped Johansson’s blast from the blue line, then smothered Aaron Nell’s point-blank rebound attempt.

The Tornado thought they’d made it 4-2 with 4:27 left, but had their second apparent goal of the night disallowed due to referee Kevin Graber’s quick whistle. This time, Wichorek stopped Korostin’s snap shot from the slot, and with the rebound loose at the left side, Fuller whacked at it. The puck then trickled into the crease behind Wichorek, and just as Kruse swept in to poke it into the net, Graber blew the play dead, nullifying the goal.

But Texas seemed to become more energized after that disappointment, pressing in the offensive zone until they earned themselves a power play late. That led to Goodwin’s fifth goal in the last four games and 14th of the season with just 1:39 to play. After taking a pass from Puente at the blue line, Goodwin curled in the right circle and launched a wicked wrist shot that beat Wichorek to the far side for the clincher.

“I think he’s maturing into a fantastic player,” Mullins said of Goodwin. “I think from the time that we added Sergei Korostin to our lineup, he’s elevated a lot of other guys’ levels of play, so it’s almost like we added six new guys to our lineup, because he’s just brought the play of a lot of guys up. And Sam Goodwin has really matured and grown into a solid player.”

Now down by two, Kenai River pulled Wichorek for an extra attacker with 1:28 on the clock, but were unable to generate any prime scoring chances before Bullis outraced the Brown Bears’ Jake Musselman to a loose puck in the right face-off circle and fired into the empty net with 13 seconds left.

The Tornado stormed out of the gates with guns-a-blazing, generating numerous dangerous scoring chances in the contest’s first several minutes, but Wichorek was outstanding early, making a big save 3:30 in on Goodwin’s wrist shot in front, a rebound of Blazek’s shot from the right corner.

Texas then should have taken a 1-0 lead 30 seconds later, but referee Graber was out of position and blew the whistle too quickly. Fuller ripped a quick wrist shot from the left circle that Wichorek stopped, but Korostin chipped at the loose rebound. As Wichorek went down, the puck slowly rolled past him and over the goal line, but Graber, on the other side of the net, blew the whistle just as the puck crossed the line. After a quick conference with the linesmen, Graber waved off the goal.

“That was real frustrating, because that’s why you have three officials out there,” Mullins said of the call that could have changed the course of the game. “Whether the referee’s on the other side of the net or not, there’s a linesman that has plain view of the puck. The first one probably upset me more than the second one, just because it was a play at the net, the play was not anywhere near finished and the puck was already in the net - or if it wasn’t in the net, it was real close to being in the net - before he wanted to blow the whistle.”

The Tornado continued to press and Wichorek continued to keep them at bay, turning aside Goodwin’s wrist shot from the slot six minutes in and then snagging Korostin’s scorching wrist shot from the left circle with the glove a minute later.

Texas finally broke through at 7:54 on Korostin’s fourth goal in as many games. After receiving a pass from Puente on a power play, Korostin didn’t get good ‘wood’ on a one-timer from the high slot, but the puck still fluttered over Wichorek’s glove just under the crossbar to make it 1-0. Korostin, the Dallas Stars’ third-round selection (64th overall) in last June’s NHL Draft, now has seven points (four goals, three assists) in five games since coming over from Russia two weeks ago.

The Tornado held a 13-2 advantage in shots at that point, but the tide began to turn soon afterwards, as Texas got into some penalty trouble and even had to kill off a one-minute 5-on-3 advantage midway through the period.

Callaghan made nice stops on the power play on Tad Norris’ slap shot from the blue line through a screen with 9:01 left in the first and then on Murphy’s blast from inside the blue line a minute later.

“It’s a little rough, I like to get a few shots early, just to get in the flow of the game,” Callaghan said of having such little action early. “It’s kind of hard when you go through warm-ups and then go back off the ice, and then you sit there for about 10 minutes and not have anything and then you get bombarded with shots.”

Kenai River, controlling the momentum even though they didn’t capitalize on the PP, then tied it 1-1 on Tony McDonald’s eighth goal of the year with 6:23 left. After Bossert slid a pass out from behind the net, McDonald managed to pop it over Callaghan’s glove.

Now that they survived a little scare in a game in which they didn’t put forth a complete, 60-minute effort, the Tornado will have a day off Friday, during which Kenai River have to travel up to Wichita Falls to face the Wildcats. Then the two teams will go at it again Saturday night at the DejaBlue Arena, the Tornado’s 13th consecutive home game (a 7:30 pm start - watch or listen to Tommy Daniels and myself with the call on b2 networks!).
“It’s a learning process,” Mullins said. “I go back to the fact that we’ve gained some confidence, and it’s a tough game to have to go back and motivate yourself and do the little things that have got you to this point, so that’s where we’re at.”

“We just can’t change anything, keep doing what we’ve been doing and playing hard every night, trying to get the win every night and we’ll see how it ends up,” Callaghan added.

Saturday’s contest is also Pink at the Rink / Cancer Awareness Night, as 20 percent of the proceeds from the game will benefit the American Cancer Society and Relay for Life Frisco. There will also be a silent auction during the game for Relay for Life, as autographed Tornado memorabilia will be available. The Tornado players will also be wearing special pink jerseys that will then be auctioned off after the contest.

THREE STARS

3. Troy Puente, Texas (three assists)
2. Andrew Blazek, Texas (two assists, three shots on goal)
1. Sergei Korostin, Texas (one goal, one assist, eight shots on goal)

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