CORPUS CHRISTI, TX – Maurin Bouvet picked up his fourth goal of the year for the Corpus Christi IceRays and Ben Myers stopped 39 of 40 shots. Bounces however did not go their way as the Wichita Falls Wildcats crawled away with a 2-1 shootout victory that went to the eighth round in front of 2,483 fans at American Bank Center on Friday night.
Corpus Christi came out to play in the first period that was filled with penalties. Maurin Bouvet gave the ‘Rays a 1-0 lead 15:23 into the game. Tony Roisum took a pass from Jason Lem on the power-play and showed great patience waiting for the right time to shoot. He fired a low shot that Bouvet deflected past Wildcats netminder David Zevnik for a 1-0 lead.
A terrible break gave up the lead for the IceRays. Matt Koch shot the puck down the left wing wall and as Ben Myers came out of the crease to play the puck it caromed off the wall right out to an awaiting Jordan Jancze who tapped it into a wide open net to tie the game at one goal a piece with 3:01 left in the first period.
In the second period Caleb O’Brien wired a shot off the crossbar and out of play while on a delayed penalty. Then minutes later, Maurin Bouvet hit Wed Michaud with a centering pass on an odd man rush. Michaud pulled it on his backhand and was denied with a left lag pad save by Zevnik in net.
In the third period, the IceRays killed off two penalties, including one with 2:13 left in the game to force overtime. Nick Monfils almost had the winner in OT on a three-on-one off man rush that was denied by Zevnik to force a shootout.
In the shootout that went eight rounds, Ben Kucera scored in the eighth round going through the legs of Ben Myers. All hope was on the shoulders of Jake Durflinger and his attempt went off the crossbar ending the game as the Wildcats picked up the extra point.
Myers stopped 39 of 40 shots in regulation and overtime.
The IceRays return home tomorrow night as they take on the Wichita Falls Wildcats. Puck drops at 7:05PM, coverage begins at 6:50PM with the IceRays Pregame Show on Sportsjuice.com, TuneIn Radio APP, 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)
