CORPUS CHRISTI, TX – Tyler Gernhofer picked up a hat trick and Eric Purcell added two assists in his return to Corpus Christi as the Amarillo Bulls defeated the IceRays 6-1 on Sunday afternoon inside the American Bank Center.
Last night, Amarillo kicked off the scoring with a power-play goal and did the same tonight. After a Jake Durflinger hooking penalty, Joe Grabowski took the puck along the left side of the ice and sent it through the slot to an awaiting Mike Davis. Davis let a shot go from a tough angle and found a hold through IceRays goaltender Forbes Ploszaj for a 1-0 lead on the man advantage at the 6:32 mark of the first period. Grabowski picked up the only assist on Davis’ 22nd strike of the year.
The IceRays responded with a power-play goal of their own at 12:28 of the opening period. Malo Ville and Nico Sturm worked the puck behind the net of Amarillo goaltender Colin Delia while up a skater. Wes Michaud then scooped up the puck and moved it out to the left post realizing Delia was down on his knees, the winger lifted the puck over the left shoulder of the netminder to tie the game 1-1 with his 10th of the year . Assists credited to both Ville and Sturm.
Then a controversial goal ended the first period of action. With no time left on the clock, Matt Sieckhaus centered a puck through the top of the crease right to an awaiting Tyler Gernhofer who one-timed it by Forbes Ploszaj to end the first period. The green light came on before the shot was taken however after a meeting of the officials, the goal counted and the Bulls took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission.
In the second period, Tyler Gernhofer, Brady Ferguson, and Kyle Gattelaro all tallied goals to move the lead out to 5-1 after 40 minutes of play. Gernhofer picked up his second of the game at 4:16 of the second and that was answered by a Brady Ferguson goal just 40 seconds later at 4:56 for a 4-1 lead assisted by former IceRay Eric Purcell which ended the night for goaltender Forbes Ploszaj. Kyle Gattelaro increased the lead to 5-1 at 9:24 of the middle frame with his 14th on the year again assisted by Purcell.
The only scoring in the final period of regulation was the hat trick goal by Tyler Gernhofer. While the IceRays enjoyed a man advantage late in the game, Gernhofer intercepted a shot and went on a breakaway beating Ben Myers for his third of the game and 28th goal of the season to finish the scoring and seal a 6-1 road win.
The IceRays are on the road this upcoming weekend as they take on the Lone Star Brahmas on Friday and Saturday night from the NYTEX Sports Complex. Puck drops at 7:30PM, coverage begins at 7:15PM 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)
