Corpus Christi, Texas – A good way to stop a losing streak is simple, start a winning streak of your own.
Well maybe not as simple as it sounds, but a good enough theory for the Corpus Christi IceRays.
Anthony Cafarelli scored late in the second period on the power play to lift the IceRays to a 4-3 victory over the Odessa Jackalopes Saturday Night at the American Bank Center.
After dropping five straight games, the IceRays swept the weekend series and have now won two straight games of their own to improve to 11-18-1, 2 OTL for 25 points and pull within five points of Odessa for seventh place in the NAHL South Division.
“It’s nice to get the four points,” IceRays head coach Sylvain Cloutier said. “We needed those points to stay in the hunt for a playoff spot, so overall it’s a great weekend.”
The loss slipped Odessa to 13-14-2, 2 SOL for 30 points, a point behind the Oklahoma Warriors, who lost 4-3 on the road against the Shreveport Mudbugs in a shootout.
Stepan Kuznetsov, Billy Biedermann and Pierson Sobush all scored goals for the IceRays.
Thomas Wright, Trevor Mitchell and Cameron Dunn each scored for Odessa.
After outshooting Corpus Christi 32-23 Friday night, Odessa outshot the IceRays 39-27 including 19-5 in the second period. But Corpus Christi owned a slight 9-7 advantage in the third period.
A night after stopping 30 shots Friday, Bryant Marks made 36 saves to get another win and improve to 7-8-0, 1 SOL on the year.
Each team netted a power-play goal with Corpus Christi going 1-for-3 and Odessa 1-for-4.
“We were lucky with a four-minute high stick, but our penalty killers did a great job there killing it off,” Cloutier said. “You got to give them credit tonight.”
Odessa got on the board first on Wright’s fourth goal of the season at 2:24.
Corpus Christi responded with three first period goals as Kuznetsov got his tenth of the season from Zakhar Polshakov and Mathieu Bourgault at 5:51 to tie the game.
Biedermann roared back 49 seconds later for his seventh of the year from Michael Valdez and Will Reardon at 6:40 to give the IceRays at 2-1 advantage.
Sobush increased the lead to 3-1 on his 11th goal from Cafarelli and Biedermann at 17:57.
Odessa struck with a pair of goals just over two-minutes apart in the third period to tie the game.
Mitchell netted his fifth of the season at 11:46 and Dunn collected his ninth at 13:59.
Cafarelli later gave the IceRays the lead for good just four seconds after John Wojciechoski went off for slashing at 15:17 of the second period.
“It was nice to see our penalty killing unit doing a great job,” Cloutier said. “Those guys fought hard through the second period.”
Cloutier also liked the way his team his team battled.
“We’re believing that we can do this every weekend and that we can beat anyone in our division when we put our minds to it,” Cloutier said. “We don’t have one or two guys, it’s got to be 24 guys to get the job done.”
The IceRays will play on the road against the Shreveport Mudbugs Friday, January 5 and Saturday, January 6 at the Georges Pond Hirsch Coliseum at 7:11 p.m. CST.
“We’re going to enjoy New Year’s and we’ve got to get refocused for next weekend,” Cloutier said.
You can watch the games on NAHLTV.
For more info on the IceRays visit goicerays.com.
