PREVIEW: ICERAYS @ WILDCATS (GAME #3)

Sep 17, 2016

CORPUS CHRISTI ICERAYS WICHITA FALLS WILDCATS

Saturday, September 17 at 7:05 P.M. • Kay Yeager Coliseum • Wichita Falls, TX
Game #3 • Series: WFS leads 1-0-1-0 • Video: FASTHockey.com • Twitter: @goicerays

Coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. with Countdown To Faceoff

Tonight’s Game: The IceRays close out the three-game, three-day set against the Wichita Falls Wildcats at the Kay Yeager Coliseum.

Head-To-Head: The IceRays and Wildcats evened their season series to 1-1 with last night’s loss with the Wildcats holding the one-point edge due to an overtime loss on Thursday. The IceRays and Wildcats have never played three-straight games against each other prior to this weekend. The IceRays are 21-33-6 all-time against the Wildcats and 6-19-5 at the Kay Yeager Coliseum.

Last Night: The IceRays were overpowered in a 6-1 loss to the Wildcats on Friday night at the Kay Yeager Coliseum. The Wildcats scored four goals in the first period including two from forward Ryan Burnett (SH, 4:57 1st; 19:33 1st) and tallies from forwards Ilya Skvortsov (3:51 1st) and Ricky Carballo (12:34 1st) to take a commanding 4-0 lead after the first period. The Wildcats would tack on two more in each of the final two periods thanks to forward Aleksi Poikola (1:51 2nd) and Isaac Kobienia (7:33 3rd) to take a 6-0 lead before IceRays forward Andy McGlynn (12:08 3rd) took away the shutout and set the scoreline to its final, 6-1. Evan Moyse (1-0-2) stopped 20 of 21 shots in the win, while Tomáš Vomáčka (1-1-0) saved 25 of 31 in the loss.

Second Day Blues: The second night of the season has been difficult for the IceRays over the last seven seasons. The IceRays dropped to 1-5-0-1 in seven attempts in the follow-up game to opening night. Their only win came on Sep. 16, 2010 in a 5-4 victory over the Chicago Hitmen at the NAHL Showcase. The IceRays have never played a third-straight game outside of the NAHL Showcase, however in those seasons starting at the league tournament, the IceRays went 1-2-0 while only winning in the 2010-11 season. Historically, the IceRays are 2-4-0 on game three.

Record Set: Without a goal last night, IceRays forward Mason Krueger saw his franchise record six-game goal scoring streak come to an end after an opening night goal. The third-year veteran finished the 2015-16 season with one goal in each of his final five games including four-straight games with goals against the Wildcats. Krueger broke the original record (four games) on Apr. 7, 2016 in Wichita Falls, taking down the four-way tie between Michael Dery (2010-11), Kyle Froese (2012-13), Eric Purcell (2013-14) and Nathan Bryer (2014-15). Krueger also scored the team’s first goal this season.

Grins For ‘Glynn: For the second-straight season, IceRays forward/defenseman Andy McGlynn scored the team’s lone goal in the second game of the season with last night’s ending a shutout bid by the Wildcats. The third-year player scored the IceRays’ first goal of the season last year and the only goal in a 2-1 loss to Topeka on Sep. 20, 2015 in the second game. Dating back to last season, McGlynn has recorded points in three of his last six games (1+2=3) while three-in-five while playing as a forward.

Curtailing Competition: Wildcats Head Coach Tony Curtale earned his first win of the season last night as well as his first win in Wichita Falls since 2012-13 when he was coaching the Texas Tornado. The Tornado last visited the Kay Yeager Coliseum on Jan. 25-26, 2013 and swept the Wildcats 3-2 and 4-3, respectively. During that season, the Tornado went a perfect 4-0 in road meetings and 6-1-1 against the Wildcats. The last time Curtale lost two-straight in Wichita Falls came in 2011-12 (Oct. 14, 2011: 4-3 OTL; Dec. 16, 2011: 7-3 L).

Wild Runnings: The Wildcats put up six goals last night, a feat commonly done in last season. During the 2015-16 campaign, the Wildcats have put up six goals or more in 12 of their 60 games (20.00%) including three times against the IceRays and seven times at the Kay Yeager Coliseum. In those games, opponents have only come within three goals twice: Oct. 16 & Nov. 28 against Odessa (6-4 W, 6-3 W).

Opposing Schedules: The IceRays and Wildcats start the 2016-17 season with two very different schedules in terms of home and road games. The IceRays continue a season-long ten-game road trip which includes the four neutral site games at the NAHL Showcase next week, the three games this week in Wichita Falls and three more games in Topeka starting on October 6. The Wildcats, on the other hand, play 15 of their first 22 games at the Kay Yeager Coliseum spanning from opening night on September 9 to November 26 with four of those games at the NAHL Showcase in neutral site contests. As a contrast, the Wildcats play all nine games in December on the road.

South Division Standings:
Wichita Falls Wildcats (1-0-2-0, 4 PTS)
Odessa Jackalopes (1-0-0-0, 2 PTS)
Corpus Christi IceRays (1-1-0-0, 2 PTS)
Amarillo Bulls (1-1-0-0, 2 PTS)
Topeka RoadRunners (0-2-0-0, 0 PTS)
Lone Star Brahmas (0-0-0-0, 0 PTS)
Shreveport Mudbugs (0-0-0-0, 0 PTS)

Next Game: The IceRays begin the 2016 NAHL Showcase on Wednesday, Sep. 21 at 2:15 p.m. against the Aberdeen Wings from Schwan Super Rink 1. Coverage begins all week long just before the opening faceoff exclusively in high definition on FASTHockey.com.