NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, TEXAS – The Corpus Christi IceRays (17-19-4) were sunk in a special teams bout, 4-1, by the Lone Star Brahmas (26-9-7) on Friday night at the NYTEX Sports Centre.
The IceRays conceded three early penalties in the first period, and the Brahmas capitalized on the second attempt of those three. At 5:41, forward Alex Berardinelli found forward Tyler Drevitch through the slot and wide open in the left circle for a one-time slap shot to give the Brahmas the 1-0 lead.
The second period provided five power plays for the IceRays, and a double-minor penalty resulted in their first goal of the night. Defenseman Colton Meekhof slapped a shot from the top of the blue line that found a way through traffic to tie the game, 1-1, at 7:32 on the power play. The power play chances also resulted in the next Brahmas goal at 13:45 when forward Hogan Davidson backhanded a shot shielding off an IceRays defenseman to give the Brahmas back the lead, 2-1.
An early power play for the Brahmas helped them to put the IceRays back on their heels. At 7:33, defenseman Bud Madej took a slap shot from the blue line that found a seam through traffic to double the lead, 3-1, on the man-advantage. After a hard press in the third period and pulling the netminder, the IceRays were cut off by an empty net goal by Davidson at 18:01 for his second of the night and the final score line, 4-1.
Brahmas netminder Conor O’Brien (9-3-5) earned the win, stopping 18 of 19 shots, while IceRays netminder Graham Hunt (10-12-3) picked up the loss, turning aside 24 of 27 shots. The IceRays close out their two-game weekend set against the Lone Star Brahmas on Saturday, Feb. 6 at 7:30 p.m. from the NYTEX Sports Centre. Coverage begins at 7:15 p.m. on SportsRadio Corpus Christi (KSIX 1230AM) and FASTHockey.com.
The IceRays continue their home schedule at the American Bank Center on Thursday, Feb. 12 at 7:11 p.m. for the first of three games against the Lone Star Brahmas. Contact the IceRays Front Office at 361-814-PUCK or go to www.goicerays.com for details on season tickets along with pricing and seating. In addition, stay connected with the IceRays on Facebook (/CorpusChristiIceRays), Twitter (@goicerays), YouTube (IceRays TV), Instagram (CorpusChristiIceRays), Vine (@goicerays), and Periscope (@goicerays).
