GAME PREVIEW #14 – AT AMARILLO BULLS

Oct 23, 2014

CORPUS CHRISTI ICERAYS

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AMARILLO BULLS

Friday, October 24 at 7:05 P.M.

NAHL Game #145 • Road Game #7 • Season Series 0-0-0
Amarillo Civic Center • Amarillo, Texas
Radio: SportsRadio Corpus Christi (KSIX) • Mobile: TuneIn Radio

Video: FASTHockey.com • Twitter: @goicerays

Coverage begins at 6:50 p.m. with Countdown to Faceoff

Today’s Game: The IceRays open their eight-game series against the Amarillo Bulls in the first of two games from the Amarillo Civic Center. This is the second-straight season the IceRays open their season series on the road.

Head-To-Head: Over their last four seasons, the IceRays own a 10-29-1 record in regular season games with a 1-3-0 record in postseason play (2012-13 season). The last win the IceRays have on Amarillo ice was on Feb. 23, 2013 in a 5-1 victory. The last win overall against the Bulls came the following Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013 in a 4-1 win at the American Bank Center.

Last Game: The IceRays couldn’t finish the sweep, falling to the Topeka RoadRunners, 5-2, on Saturday at the American Bank Center. Topeka scored two in the first period before the IceRays could answer back on the second-chance shot from defenseman Logan Gestro at 10:33 of the second period. After two more were added by the RoadRunners, IceRays forward Jack Jenson scored his first of the season at 16:30 of the same period. Topeka added one more in the third to close out the game. Andrew Lindgren (5-2-2) earned the loss, saving a season-high 46 saves on 51 shots, and Drew Vogler (5-1-1) earned the win, stopping 28 of 30 shots.

Corpus Shuffle: Forward Nic LaBurn returns to the lineup tonight after serving a two-game suspension given after the team’s 5-2 loss to the Lone Star Brahmas on Oct. 11, and defenseman Travis Howe is probable after dislocating his hand against the Brahmas. On the flipside, forward Regan Cavanagh returns to the USPHL after earning one assist in two games, forward Connor Kelly is questionable after his injury suffered in Friday’s 4-3 overtime win, forward Jack Jenson will be out indefinitely with a concussion suffered in Saturday’s 5-2 loss, and forward Brad LeLievre remains out with a lower body injury.

Cruisin’ Cusin: After starting the season on a six-game pointless drought and one point in his first ten games, forward Ryan Cusin has turned it up of late, recording four points over his last three games (one goal, three assists), including his first multi-point game on Oct. 17 vs. TOP (two assists).

Let’s Go Gestro: Defenseman Logan Gestro has also picked up his play of recent, recording three points over last weekend’s games (one goal, two points). Though he trails his line-mate Anthony Cortese by two times his point total, Gestro is now the second-highest scoring defenseman on the squad.

A-OK on the PK: The IceRays remain in the top-five in penalty kill numbers this season. In their last five games, the IceRays are 28-for-29 (96.55%) and are 42-for-44 (95.45%) over their last ten games.

Shut ‘Em Down: IceRays forward Wes Michaud saw his five-game assist and point streak come to an end on Saturday, earning one goal and five assists over his last five games. This is the longest assist or point streak by an IceRays player this season, beating out Tanner Lomsnes and Anthony Cortese for the longest point streak.

Civic Center Split: The Amarillo Bulls split last weekend’s matchup against the Lone Star Brahmas from the Amarillo Civic Center, winning 2-1 on Friday and losing 7-2 on Saturday. The foward line of Cody Gylling, Rusian Rahkmatov and Kasper Emauelsson connected for two points each (all on the power play) to lead the way for the Bulls on the weekend. Anton Martinsson started both games in net for the Bulls, saving 28 of 29 in Friday’s win but only stopping 30 of 37 in Saturday’s loss.

Fall From Grace: For the first time in their junior history, the Amarillo Bulls are under .500 in their first 11 games of the season. In each of the last four seasons, the Bulls have put up eight wins in that span and in two of the last four won the 12th game of the season. Their worst full season was their inaugural year in 2010-11 when they went 36-16-6 and finished second in the South Division. Since then, they’ve won the South Division every season and appeared in the Robertson Cup Finals in 2011-12 & 2012-13, winning the title in 2012-13.

Two-For-Five: Five Bulls players are heating up and on the cusp of a scoring streak. Forwards Mitchell Vanderburgh (2+1=3) and Rusian Rakhmatov (0+2=2) have scored points in each of their last two games, and defensemen Rusian Rakhmatov (0+2=2) and Kasper Emanuelsson (0+2=2) share that recognition. Forward Cody Gylling (2+0=2) has a power play goal in each of his last two games and is the only Bulls player to enter tonight with a possible goal-scoring streak on the line.