Wildcats Drop Game in Overtime in Corpus Christi
Published on April 1, 2016 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Wichita Falls Wildcats News Release
The Wildcats fell 3-2 in overtime to the Corpus Christi IceRays Friday night, whose goaltending dominance from Dryden McKay and scoring prowess from Brad Power gave the Rays their second straight victory over Wichita Falls.
The stakes were high as both teams had large incentives to win. The IceRays need at least two wins to close the season in order to keep their playoff hopes alive, while the Wildcats had the chance to clinch their first Division Title in franchise history.
As expected, McKay and Justin Kapelmaster started the game as two goaltenders playing with purpose. They were each strong in net, and out of 21 shots taken in the first period, only one was a goal. Ryan Burnett flew down the right wing and created loads of space, which he used to sell his shot and slide the puck across the slot and onto the tape for Garrett Van Wyhe, who opened the scoring with his parents in attendance from Seattle.
It's been established how dominant the Wildcats have been in the second period this season. The middle frame has undoubtedly been the Cats' strongest for most of the campaign, but that was not the case on Friday night. Wichita Falls went through nearly half of the period with just a single shot on goal, and they were ultimately outshot 15-8 in the middle 20 minutes.
In an effort to spark his team, Jonny Lazarus attempted to drop the gloves with Tucker Bender, who kept his mitts on and caused Lazarus to be given a penalty. The Rays would score on the ensuing power play off a goal-line shot taken by Brad Power, which snuck through the paraphernalia of Kapelmaster. Just four minutes later, in a major dose of misfortune, Mason Krueger fired a changeup from the high slot which bounced off of Rourke Russell's left glove and into the net, giving the Rays their first lead of the night and sending them into the second intermission with a 2-1 edge.
It took 17 minutes and 31 seconds for Nikita Litviak to redeem himself after hitting the post earlier in the game. He scored by ripping a wrist shot from the top of the right circle, which went high over McKay to tie the game up late in regulation, forcing overtime. The Rays skated circles around the Cats in their own zone for much of the period, and a late surge by Wichita Falls denied by McKay sprung a 2-on-1 the other way with two of the Rays' leading scorers, Power and Drake Lindsay. Lindsay carried the puck down the left wing, drawing the attention of Noah Gilreath and Kapelmaster. He made a nice pass to Power, who drove it into the net for his second goal of the night, and the IceRays' most important goal of the season.
Kapelmaster turned aside 35 of the 38 shots he faced for his third regulation defeat, while McKay won his 14th of the campaign and second straight against the Wildcats, stopping 25 of 27. The Cats will be back at the American Bank Center on Saturday, April 2nd to finish off their final road series of the regular season. Coverage will begin at 7 pm.
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