Bucks "Rayz" The Roof: Beat Corpus 3-1
March 1, 2008 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Laredo Bucks News Release
LAREDO, TX- The Laredo Bucks of the Central Hockey League beat the Corpus Christi Rayz 3-1 Saturday night, in front of 3,620 fans at the Laredo Entertainment Center.
With the win Laredo snapped their brief one-game losing streak, and improved their Southern Conference leading record to 37-17-3 (77pts). With Odessa's 6-2 win over Amarillo Saturday night Laredo's lead in the conference stays at 10 over the Jackalopes (77 to 67). The Bucks need a combination of 11 points to clinch the top seed in the Southern Conference playoffs.
Dustin Traylen picked up his 22nd win of the season in net, as he set aside 30 of 31 Rayz shots he faced. Traylen, who is 5-0-1 in his last six games, is now tied with Marco Emond for third-place in single season goalie wins as a Buck.
Laredo would jump out on top of the Rayz (17-30-7, 41pts) as they broke free on the power-play in the first period. Adam Rivet sent a slap shot from the bottom of the left circle past Rayz goaltender Jason Tapp. With the goal Rivet now has a five game point streak, as he scored his 18th goal of the season, with Jeff Bes and Andrew Desjardins picking up assists. For Bes it was his CHL-leading 94th point.
Despite holding a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes, the Bucks were outshot by the Rayz 14-9.
Laredo improved to 23-3-2 when scoring first this season.
Each team's goalies were helped out a bit by some iron in the first period, as the Rayz hit the post, while the Bucks hit the cross bar.
The second period was a defensive struggle as niether team lit the lamp, giving the Bucks a 1-0 lead heading into the third period.
Both Laredo and Corpus Christi's special teams units would get a work out in the second period, as as Laredo would come up empty on two power-plays, while they killed off three Rayz man advantages.
For the second straight period the Bucks were outshot by the Rayz, this time by a count of 11-8.
Laredo (21-7-1 at home) would take a 2-0 lead just 5:53 into the third period when Chris Korchinski found Alex Goupil on a break who then slipped the puck by Tapp for the Bucks CHL-leading 17th short-handed goal of the season. The Bucks are now 7-2 since trading for Goupil on February 11th.
The Rayz would cut the Bucks lead in half to 2-1 at the 11:08 mark of the third when Joe Blaznek took the face off and sent a rocket shot past Traylen. It was Blaznek's team-leading 21st goal of the campaign.
Things would start to unwind for the Rayz in the final four minutes, as they took two separate penalties to give Laredo two power-plays.
The Rayz would kill off the first Laredo power-play but then be forced to go on a penalty kill with 1:07 left in the game.
With the Corpus net empty with under five seconds left Chris Korchinski attempted an empty net shot, one of the Rayz threw their stick in front of the net to stop the puck, which would normally be a penalty shot, but with the Rayz net empty it automatically gave the Bucks the goal to make it a 3-1 final.
The Bucks will conclude their home stand next weekend, when they host Rio Grande Valley on Friday night, and Bossier-Shreveport on Saturday night. Group tickets are available for $10, with individual tickets starting at $12.75. Playoff packages are now available, by calling 718-BUCK (2825).
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Central Hockey League Stories from March 1, 2008
- Scorpions Stymied By Colorado - New Mexico Scorpions
- Pankewicz's Hat Trick Leads Eagles Into First Place Tie - Colorado Eagles
- Brahmas Edge Mudbugs in Overtime - Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs
- Brahmas beat 'Bugs in extra period - Fort Worth Brahmas
- Bucks "Rayz" The Roof: Beat Corpus 3-1 - Laredo Bucks
- Rage Lose, 5-4, in Mississippi - Rocky Mountain Rage
- Rayz drop tight one to Bucks 3-1 - Corpus Christi IceRays
- Amarillo Bested by Odessa 6-2 - Amarillo Gorillas
- RiverKings edge Rage 5-4 - Mississippi RiverKings
- Ice Bats Buzzed By Bees, 3-2 - Austin Ice Bats
- Hounds defeat Thunder 6-3 - Youngstown SteelHounds
- Bucks Look To Re-Group Against Rayz Tonight In Final Meeting - Laredo Bucks
- Scorpions Muzzle Sundogs - New Mexico Scorpions
- Brahmas Find Win In Laredo - Fort Worth Brahmas
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