N. RICHLAND HILLS, TX – Nick Monfils tied the game late in the third period but Matt Lison provided the overtime winner as the Lone Star Brahmas swept the Corpus Christi IceRays 3-2 in front of 1,492 fans at the NYTEX Sports Complex on Saturday night.
Corpus Christi finally struck first with the only goal of the first period. A great shift for Connor Kelly finished with Maurin Bouvet finding him in the left wing circle with a crisp pass and Kelly wristed the puck through a screen and beat goaltender TJ Black for his third goal of the season.. Bouvet picked up the first assist, his ninth of the year, while Froese recorded 10th assist on the games’ first goal. After the first period, Corpus Christi had an 8-5 shot advantage.
The Brahmas returned the favor in the second period on a Liam Stirtzinger goal to tie the game. Behind the net of Ben Myers, Lone Star worked the puck back and forth. Myers went to his right where he thought the wrap-around was coming, however, it was Stirtzinger who took the puck to the left side and caught Myers off guard for his fifth goal of the campaign assisted by Alex Dagnal and Alexey Solovyev at the 8:22 mark of the second period. After 40 minutes of play, Corpus Christi had the shot advantage 20-11 as well.
In the third period with the two sides tied it was the Brahmas who took their first lead of the night on a breakaway goal from Gordie Helmuth. After receiving a pass, Helmuth toe-dragged the puck around the IceRays defense and let a shot go on net that found a way through Ben Myers for a 2-1 lead just 2:24 into the final period. The assist on the pass was credited to Anthony Mousseau on Helmuth’s first goal as a Brahma.
Nick Monfils tied the game with only 5:39 left to go in the game. Brad LeLievre found Monfils wide open on the blueline and hit him with a pass. Monfils one-timed it by goaltender TJ Black for his 6th of the year assisted by LeLievre to tie the game 2-2.
After a line brawl late in regulation, Corpus Christi had a 5min power-play that they were unable to score on in overtime as well. Lone Star then was given a power-play late in the OT period and converted as Matt Lison deflected a shot from the blueline at the 3:20 mark of OT for the extra point and the 3-2 win.
Ben Myers stopped 16 of 19 shots.
The IceRays return home to the American Bank Center next weekend as they host the Odessa Jackalopes on Friday and Saturday. Puck drops at 7:05PM, coverage begins at 6:50PM with the IceRays Pregame Show on Sportsjuice.com, ustream.com, and fasthockey.com.
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)
