Rayz pull out another tight one

Published on February 17, 2006 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Corpus Christi IceRays News Release


Hidalgo, TX - Somehow, they just keep getting better and better for the Corpus Christi Rayz. For the fourth time in five games, the Rayz erased a third period deficit to come back for a late, dramatic victory. On Friday night, the latest chapter in the Rayz fairy tale storybook became a 3-2 shootout win over the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees. Randy Murphy scored the game-tying goal in the third period and the game winning goal in the fourth round of a shootout and Brent Zelenewich made 43 saves plus a perfect four for four in the shootout to lead the Rayz to the win. Corpus Christi is now nine points back from Amarillo and Austin who are tied for third and fourth place in the Southern Conference playoff race. The Rayz begin a two-game set with the Austin Ice Bats on Saturday night at the American Bank Center. Tickets start at just $10. For more information, please call the Rayz at (361)814-PUCK.

The teams played a scoreless first period to start the game. The Bees outshot the Rayz 12-8 in the opening frame.

In the second period both teams found the back of the net to get the scoring underway. Shawn Legault got the first tally of the game for Corpus Christi on the power play at 10:31. Legault set up traffic in front of the net and redirected Bernie John's shot from the right wing wall past Bees goaltender Evan Lindsay. Legault's seventh goal of the season gave the Rayz a 1-0 lead. The goal was also the third straight successful power play opportunity for Corpus Christi dating back to Tuesday night's contest. The Killer Bees answered at the 15:45 mark of the period when Aaron Phillips found a bouncing puck ant the left side of the crease and batted it past Brent Zelenewich to tie the game. Matt Medley let a shot go from the blue line that caromed off of forward Dwayne Hay and to Phillips who tallied his 13th of the season. The Bees outshot the Rayz 16-6 as the teams headed into the third period tied at one.

The Bees took their first lead of the game on a power play early in the third. Bret DeCecco dug the puck out from the corner and found Hay at the top of the left circle. Hay one-timed a rocket past Zelenewich at 5:25 to make the score 2-1 Rio Grande Valley. On a two-man advantage, Corpus Christi once again erased a third period deficit when Randy Murphy slammed home a loose puck at 13:24 to tie the game. The Rayz outshot the Bees 15-12 in the third period and sent the game to overtime.

After a scoreless extra session, Corpus Christi and Rio Grande Valley went to a shootout. Murphy and Chris Robertson scored in the fourth and fifth rounds, and Zelenewich stopped all four Bees shooters to give the Rayz the 3-2 shootout win. Corpus Christi improved their record to 18-26-2 on the season for 40 points. They climbed within seven points of Rio Grande Valley and remained nine back from the Amarillo Gorillas for the final playoff spot. Zelenewich got the win improving his record to 7-13-1. Linsday took the shootout loss moving his mark to 17-14-3. The Rayz went 2-3 on the power play. Rio Grande Valley went 1-4. The Bees outshot Corpus Christi 45-34.

The Rayz capped off their season long, four-game road trip Friday night and will return to the American Bank Center on Saturday when they host the Austin Ice Bats on "Guaranteed Fight Night" with the Rayz. All fans are guaranteed to see a fight in the arena. The Rayz and Time Warner will also give away a trip to Las Vegas to see the Fernando Vergas - "Sugar" Shane Mosley fight on February 25th. Additionally, join the Rayz for a blood drive before the game from 5:30pm-8:30pm at the arena. All participants in the blood drive will receive a free ticket voucher for an upcoming Rayz game and a Coastal Bend Blood Drive t-shirt. Tickets start at just $10. For more information, please call the Rayz at (361) 814-PUCK.

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Central Hockey League Stories from February 17, 2006


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