AMARILLO, TX – Corpus Christi trailed Amarillo 1-0 after two periods, however Emil Romig tied the game in the third, and Brandon Berkley tallied the game winner with 3:34 left in the game as the IceRays took game one from the Bulls 2-1 backed by 38 saves from Hayden Stewart inside the Amarillo Civic Center on Friday night.
Amarillo got on the board in period one as Joe Grabowski took a shot from the right point and sent the puck wide on purpose. The shot deflected off the end wall and went right to an awaiting Hampus Gustafsson who picked up the first goal of the series 6:30 into the game and the Bulls led 1-0.
Hayden Stewart kept the IceRays in the game during the second period stopping all 18 shots he faced including two with his stick.
The comeback started in the third period at 3:20 when Beau Walker sent a cross ice pass to Emil Romig who marched inside the right wing circle and found a hole in Bulls goaltender Paul Berrafato to tie the game 1-1. The other assist was credited to Wayland Williams.
After no scoring for the next 15 minutes it was Brandon Berkley who tallied the game winner with 3:34 left to go in the game. Berkley took a pass down the left wing boards and fired a wrister through the legs of Berrafato to give Corpus Christi a 2-1 lead.
The Bulls pulled the goaltender late in regulation however the IceRays held on for a 2-1 comeback win over the NAHL regular season champions.
Hayden Stewart denied 38 of 39 shots in the win for Corpus Christi who takes a 1-0 lead in the five game series.
The IceRays and Bulls take the ice for Game 2 tomorrow night. Puck drops at 7:00PM, coverage begins at 6:45PM with the IceRays Pregame Show on 91.1FM KSGR, ksgr.org, 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)
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