The IceRays Weekly is a weekly recap and preview of IceRays news, games and more. The IceRays Weekly will be released every Monday during the 2016-17 season.
LAST WEEK…
Friday, January 27: IceRays 2, Odessa Jackalopes 3
Shots: IceRays 34, Jackalopes 32
PP: IceRays 0-for-2, Jackalopes 1-for-3
The Corpus Christi IceRays (17-15-1-3) came back late in the third period but couldn’t finish the comeback in a 3-2 loss to the Odessa Jackalopes (14-18-4-0) on Friday night at the Ector County Coliseum.
Jackalopes forward Tyler Pietrowski (3:59 2nd) opened the scoring in the middle period for the home side to take an initial 1-0 lead. Late in the frame, IceRays forward Larry Jungwirth (19:33 2nd) tied the game, 1-1, with a bar-down shot right in front of the net. Two quick goals by Jackalopes forward Ludwig Stenlund (PP, 8:23 3rd) and defenseman Nick Wilson (9:23 3rd) pushed Odessa to a 3-1 lead. With the netminder pulled, IceRays forward David Baskerville (EA, 18:21 3rd) drew the road side within one, 3-2, but another late push couldn’t force overtime.
Jackalopes goaltender Jonny Hogue (8-9-1) stopped 34 of 36 shots in the win, while IceRays netminder Tomáš Vomáčka (12-11-2) halted 29 of 32 shots in the loss.
Saturday, January 28: IceRays 4, Odessa Jackalopes 3
Shots: IceRays 32, Jackalopes 35
PP: IceRays 1-for-2, Jackalopes 1-for-1
The Corpus Christi IceRays (18-15-1-3) pressed ahead with a four-unanswered stretch through the middle of the game to help earn a 4-3 win over the Odessa Jackalopes (14-19-4-0) on Saturday night from the Ector County Coliseum.
Jackalopes forward Peyton Frantti (PP, 12:45 1st) opened the scoring to gain a 1-0 lead before the IceRays answered back with four-straight goals starting with center Mason Krueger (14:59 1st; PP, 5:26 2nd) scoring two to gain a 2-1 lead. IceRays forward Josh Tripp (10:04 2nd) doubled the lead, 3-1, with a shot from the high slot, and the eventual game-winner was knocked in by defenseman Cody Fleckenstein (15:21 2nd) to move to 4-1. Jackalopes forwards Ryan MacKellar (4:49 3rd) and Zach Zech (18:45 3rd) brought the home side within one late in the game, but the IceRays held on for the 4-3 victory.
IceRays goaltender Camden Burggrabe (5-4-1) halted 32 of 35 shots in the win. Jackalopes netminder Jonny Hogue (8-10-1) stopped 18 of 22 shots in 40:00 minutes for the loss, and Jon Flakne turned down all 10 shots in the third period.
THIS WEEK…
Friday, February 3 @ Shreveport Mudbugs – 7:11 p.m.
Saturday, February 4 @ Shreveport Mudbugs – 7:11 p.m.
The Corpus Christi IceRays finish their final leg of the three-week road trip against the Shreveport Mudbugs from George’s Pond at Hirsch Coliseum. The IceRays have won three-straight games against the Mudbugs and own points in five-straight meetings, moving to a 5-1-0-1 record in their first junior franchise series. The IceRays can clinch a share of the season series with a win this weekend. All-time, the IceRays are now 26-26-6 in 56 games against the Mudbugs including WPHL and CHL franchise meetings.
The Shreveport Mudbugs closed the month of January in a battle for second place with a 5-1 regulation loss and 4-3 shootout loss to the Wichita Falls Wildcats on Friday and Saturday night from George’s Pond at Hirsch Coliseum. Mudbugs defenseman Andrew Lane (1+1=2) and forward Frankie Melton (2 goals) were the only two players to earn multi-point weekends and Lane the only contributor on both nights. Melton scored two of the three goals on Saturday night. Six other players also tacked on one point. Goaltender Dylan Lubbesmeyer stopped 45 of 49 shots on the weekend, coming in relief in Friday’s loss and playing all 65 minutes in Saturday’s shootout loss, and John Roberts turned down 26 of 30 shots in 41:07 minutes on Friday.
South Division Outlook:
The Lone Star Brahmas continued their league-leading winning streak to 12 games with a road sweep of the Topeka RoadRunners, though Topeka earned one point in overtime. The Wichita Falls Wildcats bounced back with a pair of road wins over the Shreveport Mudbugs to earn a three-point lead for second place. The Corpus Christi IceRays split their weekend with the Odessa Jackalopes, which spread their lead for fourth place to six points and closed the gap to third down to seven points. The Amarillo Bulls remained idle.
| TEAM | GP | W | L | OTL | SOL | PTS | PCT | L10 |
| LONE STAR BRAHMAS | 42 | 33 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 67 | .798 | 10-0-0-0 |
| WICHITA FALLS WILDCATS | 38 | 23 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 50 | .658 | 5-4-0-1 |
| SHREVEPORT MUDBUGS | 37 | 22 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 47 | .635 | 6-2-1-1 |
| CORPUS CHRISTI ICERAYS | 37 | 18 | 15 | 1 | 3 | 40 | .541 | 7-2-0-1 |
| AMARILLO BULLS | 40 | 13 | 19 | 7 | 1 | 34 | .425 | 3-6-0-1 |
| ODESSA JACKALOPES | 37 | 14 | 19 | 4 | 0 | 32 | .432 | 4-6-0-0 |
| TOPEKA ROADRUNNERS | 42 | 13 | 25 | 3 | 1 | 30 | .357 | 2-7-1-0 |
ICERAYS BITS…
The IceRays continued to produce points in January, recording a 4-2-0-0 record through their six-game schedule for their best month of the season. The eight points earned is tied for the second-most points in a month with the fewest games played but has the best point percentage (.667) in five months this season. The performance ranks third in seven seasons for January, trailing only the 2012-13 and 2014-15 seasons, both of which had a 7-3-1 record (.681) through 11 games. Flynn has been on staff for two of the best three January months (2014-15 & 2016-17).
The South Division landscape has changed for the better through January thanks to the performance of the IceRays in six games. Prior to their first game on January 12, the IceRays held just a one point lead over Amarillo for fourth place and trailed Shreveport by seven points. While the IceRays still trail by seven, they’ve spread their lead by five points still with three games in-hand over the Bulls. On top of that, their lead over Odessa has moved from two points to eight points, and neither team have a game advantage over the other.
