The IceRays Weekly is a weekly recap and preview of IceRays news, games and more. The IceRays Weekly will be released every Monday during the 2016-17 season.
LAST WEEK…
Friday, November 18: Lone Star Brahmas 3, IceRays 0
Shots: Brahmas 21, IceRays 20
PP: Brahmas 3-for-4, IceRays 0-for-3
Power play opportunities in the second period helped to shut down the Corpus Christi IceRays (8-9-1-2) in a 3-0 loss to the Lone Star Brahmas (18-3-1-0) on Friday night from the American Bank Center.
After an even first period, Brahmas forward Hunter Stanley (PP, 1:52 2nd) opened the scoring on the first penalty of the game to take a 1-0 lead. After the IceRays were set back on a 5-on-3 penalty kill, Brahmas forwards Drake Glover (PP, 12:25 2nd) and Troy York (PP, 13:19 2nd) capitalized on each end with a rebound and breakaway, respectively, to triple the lead, 3-0. The IceRays were held back despite a goaltending change in the third period, falling 3-0 in the shutout loss.
Brahmas netminder Alec Calvaruso (8-1-0) halted all 20 shots faced in the win. IceRays goaltender Tomáš Vomáčka (4-8-1) stopped 9 of 12 shots in 39:09 minutes and the loss, and Cam Burggrabe stopped all nine shots faced in 20:51 minutes of relief.
Saturday, November 19: Lone Star Brahmas 1, IceRays 4
Shots: Brahmas 24, IceRays 22
PP: Brahmas 0-for-4, IceRays 1-for-4
The Corpus Christi IceRays (9-9-1-2) scored four-unanswered goals to take down the Lone Star Brahmas (18-4-1-0) 4-1 on Saturday night at the American Bank Center.
Brahmas forward Troy York (11:34 1st) opened the scoring while in transition to take a 1-0 lead before the IceRays took over with two odd area goals from forward David Baskerville (15:25 1st) and defenseman Cody Fleckenstein (16:10 1st) to take a 2-1 lead from the left corner and left point, respectively. IceRays forward Mason Krueger (11:35 3rd) added to the lead, 3-1, with a back door stuffer, and forward Josh Tripp (PP, 14:22 3rd) scored the lone power play goal for the team on the weekend to finish off the Brahmas, 4-1.
IceRays goaltender Tomáš Vomáčka (5-8-1) stopped 23 of 24 shots in the win. Brahmas netminder Alec Calvaruso (8-2-0) halted three of five shots in 16:10 minutes while earning the loss, and Erik Gordon turned away 15 of 17 shots in 41:16 minutes of relief.
THIS WEEK…
Friday, November 25 vs. Amarillo Bulls – 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, November 26 vs. Amarillo Bulls – 7:05 p.m.
The Corpus Christi IceRays host the Amarillo Bulls for the first time this season and begin their eight-game season series at the American Bank Center on Thanksgiving Weekend. The IceRays opened this year’s series with the first junior franchise road sweep in Amarillo on November 4-5 and recorded the second shutout of the season in the process. Those wins bring the franchise series to a 23-40-3 record for the IceRays. In the last seven seasons, the home and road record have been about even with the IceRays going 11-18-1 at the American Bank Center.
Promotions:
FRIDAY: The IceRays open the weekend with Black Friday Ticket Specials. Buy one ticket at the American Bank Center Box Office and get the second free, or buy two tickets on Ticketmaster.com and get the third free. The game is also a Tride Rideshare Frosty Friday with $1 beer and soda during the game. Fans can receive $5 off the Tride Passenger app by using promo code “icerays” for a safe fare to and/or from the arena.
SATURDAY: Holiday Ticket Specials continue heading throughout the whole weekend. Buy one ticket at the American Bank Center Box Office and get the second free, or buy two tickets on Ticketmaster.com and get the third free. Saturday is also a Corpus Christi Caller-Times Family 4-Pack Night with four tickets, four hot dogs and four sodas for just $48.
South Division Outlook:
The Lone Star Brahmas were able to keep a strong hold on the rest of the South Division despite splitting the weekend with the Corpus Christi IceRays, who have stayed solidified in fourth place. The Shreveport Mudbugs earned two wins on the road to slide back in second place while extending the losing streak for the Amarillo Bulls to 11 games and keeping them away from their first home win of the season. The Wichita Falls Wildcats took two of three games at home against the Topeka RoadRunners while the road side earned three of six points to climb the standings. The Odessa Jackalopes played on Tuesday night, falling 5-3 to the Brahmas.
| TEAM | GP | W | L | OTL | SOL | PTS | PCT | L10 |
| LONE STAR BRAHMAS | 23 | 18 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 37 | .804 | 8-2-0-0 |
| SHREVEPORT MUDBUGS | 19 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 25 | .658 | 7-3-0-0 |
| WICHITA FALLS WILDCATS | 19 | 11 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 24 | .632 | 7-3-0-0 |
| CORPUS CHRISTI ICERAYS | 21 | 9 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 21 | .500 | 5-5-0-0 |
| TOPEKA ROADRUNNERS | 22 | 8 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 19 | .432 | 3-4-2-1 |
| AMARILLO BULLS | 22 | 6 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 18 | .409 | 0-6-5-0 |
| ODESSA JACKALOPES | 19 | 8 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 17 | .447 | 3-6-1-0 |
ICERAYS BITS…
IceRays goaltender Tomáš Vomáčka earned a strong win on Saturday night and broke down a rough patch in his season. The win was his first since October 7 in Topeka, tearing down a five-game loss streak. In that span, the 17-year-old netminder had an .893 save percentage and conceded three or more goals in three of five games. Saturday’s win was the first at the American Bank Center this season for Vomáčka and the second time this season he held an opponent to one goal with the last coming in his last win on October 7.
