Corpus Christi, Texas – What a difference a day makes… at least in the final result.
The Corpus Christi IceRays, a proud member of the North American Hockey League, once again came out strong, but this time were able to finish the job in a 3-1 victory over the New Hampshire Mountain Kings Thursday afternoon at the NAHL Showcase in Blaine, Minnesota.
Less than 24 hours after a tough 4-3 loss to the Aberdeen Wings, the IceRays came out the aggressor and didn’t take the pedal off the medal, outshooting the Mountain Kings 35-24, including 13-4 in the final period to preserve the victory.
“I mean, it’s two games in a row now that you know, we play for 40 and then we kind of fall off our game plan for 20,” IceRays head coach Sylvain Cloutier said. “We got a bit out disciplined in the second period and that kind of hurt us and gave them some life and momentum.”
Stepan Kuznetsov, Gage Parillo and Anthony Cafarelli each netted goals for Corpus Christi (1-1).
Nick Reif scored the lone New Hampshire goal.
Vilgot Holm collected 23 saves in his first start of the season in goal for the IceRays.
The IceRays jumped out to a 2-0 lead just over 10-minutes into the contest on goals by Kuznetsov at 7:05 and Parillo at 10:07.
Reif pulled New Hampshire (0-2) within a goal with his first goal of the season at 6:54 of the second period.
But after being outshot 15-8 in the second period, the IceRays took it upon themselves to make sure a letdown, like what happened against Aberdeen, didn’t repeat itself.
Thanks to strong pressure by his teammates, Cafarelli collected his second goal of the season off a rebound at 13:59 of the third period with the dagger.
“It was a huge goal,” Cloutier said. “‘Caf’ put one in there, but we were cycling and were all over them the two shifts before that. I think Parillo’s line got us going and then Cafarelli, (Billy Biedermann) and (Pierson) Sobush kept the pressure on and then he went to the get and got that rebound and yeah, it was a really nice goal.”
And the goal came from an integral part of the IceRays lineup in Cafarelli.
“He is the leader of the group. He’s our captain and you know he’s come to play this season,” Cloutier said of Cafarelli. “When ‘Caf’ is engaged and he’s on his game, he’s pretty hard to stop out there. He could be a physical force if he wants.”
Biedermann thought the overall play from the team was key.
“Just kind of like Coach said, we did let up a bit. We kind of got too comfortable and then we got it back,” Biedermann said “The boys really showed a lot of character with how much we wanted it.”
Corpus Christi committed seven penalties compared to three for New Hampshire and avoided a scare by killing off a penalty in the second period down two skaters with the Mountain Kings attempting to tie the game.
“I think it was massive,” Biedermann said of the win. “We had a good talk in between the 2nd and 3rd about how we can’t let up and we got to do all the little things right. I know it was really good for the boys’ spirits to keep it going and we knew what we had to do.”
The IceRays will play their third game in three days at the NAHL Showcase against the Minot Minotauros Friday night at 5:30 p.m. CT.
Minot is 2-0 after a 2-1 victory over the Lone Star Brahmas Wednesday, and a 4-3 shootout victory over the Maine Nordiques Thursday.
“We watched them against Lone Star. They’re a big, aggressive team,” Cloutier said. “They play a similar style to us and just play hard. It’s going to be a good matchup. It should be a really good hockey game.”
You can watch Friday’s game on NAHLTV.com.
Single game tickets for IceRays home games are going on sale Friday on Ticketmaster.com.
Single Game tickets are $38 for Glass, $32 for Lower Bowl, and $26 for Upper Bowl.
Season tickets for the 2023-24 season are still on sale now as well.
For information, please contact Michelle Evans at 361-814-7825, Ext. 104.
