CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Corpus Christi IceRays dropped a 3-1 decision to the Amarillo Bulls Saturday night at American Bank Center. Justin Evenson made 40 saves for the Bulls (29-5-2-2, 62 pts.). Matthew Headland recorded the lone goal for Corpus Christi (20-19-1-0, 41 pts.).
Ryan Lautenbach scored 3:54 into the game to put Amarillo up 1-0, recording the third shorthanded goal the IceRays have given up this season.
Late in the second period, Alex Peterson fed a pass to Jake Willets, who scored a power play goal to put the Bulls up 2-0 at 17:41. However, Headland responded 48 seconds later, skating in from the blue line and firing a shot that Evenson tipped with his glove but could not control.
It remained a one-goal game until the final minute of the third period when Jason Brancheau scored an empty net goal for the first-place Bulls to secure the their seventh victory against the IceRays this season.
In his home debut, IceRays goaltender Keegan Karki stopped 27 of 29 shots faced. Corpus Christi outshot Amarillo by a 41-30 margin, including 14-5 in the third period.
The two teams close their 3-in-3 weekend with a 3:05 PM matinee Sunday at American Bank Center. Single game tickets, group tickets and suites for the remainder of the 2018-19 IceRays season are on sale now. Visit goicerays.com or call 361-814-PUCK (7825) for tickets or more information. IceRays games are carried live on Sportsradio Corpus Christi (1230 AM/95.1 FM/96.1 FM), HockeyTV and Mixlr with the pre-game show starting 15 minutes prior to faceoff. For more information, visit goicerays.com/broadcast. Stay connected with the IceRays on Facebook (/CorpusChristiIceRays), Twitter (@goicerays) and Instagram (CorpusChristiIceRays).
