Dropping the first two in a three-game series is not a good feeling, especially when chasing the team defeating you in the standings. The IceRays looked to make sure Odessa was not able to take the brooms out on Saturday night.
In the first period, the Jackalopes found the scoreboard to give themselves a lead thirteen minutes into the game. They found themselves ahead into the last minute of the period when the IceRays power play evened things at one aside. Nine seconds into the man-advantage, Jude Kurtas scored his second power play goal of the weekend with just 29 seconds left in the period.
The second period saw Odessa score two goals in the first six minutes of the period to take a 3-1 lead. In a period where fireworks lit the scoreboard, a two goal lead could not be held long.
The IceRays scored sixteen seconds into four-on-four time coming off of the stick of Braden Rourke to bring Corpus Christi back within one. Zagrzebski and O’Keefe earned the assists on the goal.
Corpus Christi saw themselves down one for just over seven minutes before Blake Lewis tallied his seventh this season to tie the game at three aside. This started a flurry of offense for Corpus Christi in a two minute span.
The Rays took the lead on a Charlie Merkley goal to make it 4-3 just over a minute following the Lewis goal. The goal for Merkley was his eighth of the season and his fourth in the past four games.
Just under a minute following the Merkley go-ahead goal, two minutes after the Lewis game-tying goal, Colby Seitz was able to get one past the Odessa goalie. For Seitz, this was his fifth goal of the season with three of those coming against the Jackalopes.
Odessa added one to the score column to make it 5-4 heading into the second intermission. One might think that a seven goal second led to more scoring in the third, but both teams stood pat at the 5-4 score as the IceRays picked up win number 21 on the season.
The win on Saturday night concluded the regular season series with Odessa. The Rays went 4-4-0 against the Jacks this season. That is the record they are looking to get against the Amarillo Wranglers this season, which they could achieve with a sweep in Amarillo this weekend. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 pm both nights in Amarillo with coverage being found on Brewster Street Radio and HockeyTV.
