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Rayz fall to Mudbugs 3-2

February 3, 2006 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Corpus Christi IceRays News Release


Corpus Christi, TX - On the heels of a tough loss the night before, the Corpus Christi Rayz came into their second straight meeting with the Bossier Shreveport Mudbugs with a strong game plan. On Friday night they executed it, however were held without points in a difficult 3-2 loss. The Rayz outshot the Mudbugs 2-0 and outshot them 22-9 in the first and third periods, yet could not overcome back to back second period major power plays for the Bugs. Bossier Shreveport scored all three goals on those power plays in a 7:41 span to beat the Rayz for the second straight game. The two teams will now meet in the series finale Tuesday night in Louisiana.

The Rayz came out an inspired hockey club in the opening period. Forcing the issue and setting the tone for the game, the Rayz held the Mudbugs to just five shots in the opening period. The Rayz scored the only goal of the first period when Doug Watkins redirected a Josh Miskovich pass through David Cacciola to give Corpus Christi a 1-0 lead. An outstanding opening frame for the Rayz ended in disappointing fashion after Mike Rees checked Dan Wildfong into the corner boards. After Wildfong remained motionless on the ice, and was examined by a trainer, referee Tudor Floru made a delayed call on Rees resulting in a five minute major for boarding and a game misconduct. The penalty left the Rayz with only four defensemen with Tim Laurila out due to injury.

The Mudbugs began the second period with a major power play and took advantage. Dale Lupul scored his fourth goal of the season at 1:22 on a shot from the blueline. The Rayz killed off the rest of the major and returned to even strength hockey tied at one. The even strength situation was short lived as seconds later Caleb Moffat and Chris Shaw engaged in a fight, and during the fight a head-butt was called against Moffat. The five minute major penalty and game misconduct was the second called in a span of just over five minutes against the Rayz. After Moffat's penalty the Rayz had 13 skaters to finish the game.

On the second major power play the Mudbugs took a two goal lead with goals 1:47 apart. Dan Wildfong potted home a rebound goal from the left circle at 7:16 and Brett Smith slammed home a loose puck in the crease at 9:03. The three third period goals accounted for all the Mudbugs scoring in the contest. Corpus Christi was outshot 15-10 in a period where they spent more than half of it shorthanded.

In the third period, the Rayz attempted to comeback from the deficit. Mike Lukajic beat Cacciola with a shot from the slot 2:00 into the third for his tenth goal of the season. The Rayz came inches away from tying the game midway through the stanza when Bernie John teed up a shot from the top of the slot that caromed off the bottom of the crossbar and wide. The Rayz were held without the equalizer despite outshooting the Mudbugs 15-4 in the third period. The loss for the Rayz was the seventh straight and dropped their record to 15-25-2. The Mudbugs continued their hot streak with their seventh win in their last eight games. They improved their record to 22-13-5. Zelenewich made 21 saves and took the loss, dropping his record to 6-13-1. Cacciola earned the victory with 30 saves on 32 shots and improved his season record to 6-3-1. The Rayz outshot the Bugs 32-24. The Rayz went 0-7 on the power play. The Bugs went 3-5, including the majors.

The Rayz and Mudbugs will cap off the three-game set on Tuesday night in Louisiana at 7:05pm. Corpus Christi then returns home to the American Bank Center on Thursday night, Feb. 9th for College Night, presented by Z-95.5FM. All college students with a valid school ID will receive discounted tickets, starting at just $6. For more info call (361)814-PUCK or log on to www.ccrayz.com.



Central Hockey League Stories from February 3, 2006


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