ODESSA, TX – Jake Durflinger gave the IceRays a first period lead however the Odessa Jackalopes scored two straight including the game winner with 9:40 left in the courtesy of Robb Stautz leading to a 2-1 win inside the Ector County Coliseum on Saturday night.
Corpus Christi got on the board first in the contest. Maurin Bouvet settled a bouncing puck in the right wing circle and looked back passing it to Jake Durflinger who tapped the puck by Odessa goaltender Eric Hancock who was directing all his attention to Bouvet to his left. The goal was Durflinger’s third of the year and assists went to Bouvet and Jesse Shelton at 11:05 of the first period for an 1-0 lead.
The Jackalopes responded 1:15 after the IceRays goal. Tate Sykes took a pass at the right point and wristed the puck through a screen in front of the net and snuck through the legs of Ben Myers at 12:20 of the opening period with assists from Mathieu Briand and Andrew McLean to tie the game 1-1. After the first period, the shots were 13-8 in favor of Odessa.
After no scoring in the second period, the two teams went into the third tied up at a goal apiece. The game winning goal came at 10:20 of the third as Dylan Adler sent a hard pass from the point right to an awaiting Robb Stautz in front of the net, deflecting the puck over the shoulder of Ben Myers with the other assist coming from Jake Kreutzer. That put Odessa up 2-1 and held up for the game winner.
The IceRays pulled Myers late in the game and had a six on four advantage but could not score. Myers stopped 33 of 35 shots in the loss.
The IceRays return home this Friday and Saturday as they host the Brahmas! Puck drops both nights at 7:05PM, coverage begins at 6:50PM with the IceRays Pregame Show on sportsjuice.com, ustream.com, and fasthockey.com. Click LISTEN LIVE on the IceRays website for broadcast info!
Stay current with the latest team news by visiting www.goicerays.com. In addition stay connected with the IceRays on Facebook (/corpuschristiicerays), Twitter (@goicerays), and the team’s Youtube channel ICERAYS TV (@goicerays)
