Rayz blaze past OKC in third period

Published on December 17, 2004 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Corpus Christi IceRays News Release


The Corpus Christi Rayz exploded for three goals in the third period and Derrick McIver scored the first and last goals of the game to lead the Rayz to a 4-3 win over the Oklahoma City Blazers on Friday Night from the American Bank Center. The Rayz improved to 12-7-3 on the season and remained in first place in the Southeast Division. They will conclude their weekend of hockey Saturday night when they host the Laredo Bucks at the special start time of 8:00pm. Tickets start as low as $10 and are available at the American Bank Center Box Office and all Ticketmaster locations.

After being held to just one goal through 40 minutes of play, the Rayz got a huge boost from one of their newest players and rode the momentum to victory over the Blazers. Clark Udle scored 3:57 into the final period for his first professional goal in his first game as a member of the Rayz to begin the comeback effort. 1:52 later Ryan Carter scored his CHL-leading third shorthanded goal of the season, when he took a pass from Greg Bullock and slid it underneath Blazers netminder, Sean Connors. After Garrett Prosofsky tied the game for Oklahoma City midway through the period, the stage was set for McIver's heroics. Mark Jackson shot a rolling puck from the right circle and Connors could not control the rebound. It lay in the crease briefly before McIver came in and jammed it into the net for his second of the game and his CHL-rookie leading 14th goal of the year.

The Rayz held on down the stretch and goaltender Brent Zelenewich finished with 35 saves to seal the victory. The Blazers fell to 9-11-4 on the season, and remained in third place in the Northeast Division. The Blazers were 1-4 on the power play and the Rayz were 0-2. The Blazers outshot the Rayz 38-29. Prior to the game, the Rayz signed Udle and activated forward Blair Stayzer. They placed forward Doug Scatchard on the 45-day injured reserved list and waived forward Britt Dougherty.

The Rayz will now face the Laredo Bucks Saturday night in a battle for first place in the Southeast Division. The game will begin at the special start time of 8:00pm. Tickets begin at $10 and are still available. For more information, please contact the Rayz at (361)814-PUCK.

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Central Hockey League Stories from December 17, 2004


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