Coming off a tough weekend in New Mexico, the IceRays went into El Paso last weekend in search of points. The IceRays were in a tie for fifth place in the division on Friday with a chance to move into a playoff spot if the team was able to sweep the Rhinos.
On Friday night, pucks were found the back of the net in numbers for both teams. It was El Paso striking first in period number one. The Rays would strike back, though, as Braden Rourke scored his second of the season to even it at one a side.
Four minutes after the Rourke goal, Stepan Kuznetsov would tally his first as an IceRay. Kuznetsov’s goal came against his former team, El Paso, which he was traded from earlier this month. El Paso added a power play goal late in opening period on Friday to even it back up at two.
In the second period, the Rhinos separated themselves from Corpus Christi by scoring three goals. The advantage was enough to propel El Paso past two response goals in the third period from Corpus Christi. Jack Lambert scored his first as an IceRay in period number three, and Braden Rourke picked up his second of the game as well. El Paso walked away victorious on Friday night with a 7-4 win.
On Saturday, it would be a much different type of game with eight less goals being scored. In the first period, El Paso scored the lone goal of the period to give the Rhinos a 1-0 lead headed into the first intermission. Dom Foglia got the IceRays back into the game by scoring his first as an IceRay. The game remained tied until under twelve minutes remained in the game when El Paso scored what became the game winning goal.
The IceRays exit the weekend in a tie for seventh place in the division with Shreveport. Shreveport is also the IceRays next opponent. The series is at home for Corpus Christi after a two-week road trip. Get your tickets now on Ticketmaster or at the American Bank Center box office.
