Killer Bees and RoadRunners win on Thursday

January 2, 2015

Corpus Christi 1 @ Rio Grande Valley 3 - The Corpus Christi IceRays were not able to overcome a first period deficit as they fell to the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees 3-1 on Thursday night from State Farm Arena. The IceRays now drop to 0-9-4 on the road this season. For the third-straight game, a power play goal in the first period puts the IceRays behind their opponent. At 11:13, Killer Bees forward Anthony Croston threw a shot toward net that was initially blocked by IceRays defenseman Trevor Heuser. However, the puck bounced off the defenseman and by IceRays netminder Andrew Lindgren to give the Killer Bees a 1-0 lead. Later in the frame, newly-acquired forward Andrew Scofield from the NA3HL’s Peoria Mustangs recorded his first NAHL goal after throwing a live rebound into the open net to give the Killer Bees a 2-0 lead at 16:58. The IceRays came strong out of the gates in the third period and were able to tack on a goal. Forward Connor Kelly initially attempted a shot from the right circle, and after the save by Killer Bees netminder Nick Schmit bounced to the near side, forward Franky Melton slapped home the second chance to cut the lead in half, 2-1, at 0:38. Both teams would have a number of chances in the third period, but Killer Bees forward Dean Balsamo put the game away, 3-1, with a sliding goal at 17:09 of the period. Schmit earned the win for the Killer Bees, turning aside 25 of the 26 shots faced, and Lindgren picked up the loss while saving 20 of 23 shots. Boxscore

 

Wenatchee 2 @ Topeka 3 (SO) - On a New Year’s Day matchup with the Wenatchee Wild, Topeka scored three times in the shootout and held Wenatchee scoreless, winning 3-2 at Landon Arena. Topeka goaltender Matej Tomek stopped all three Wenatchee shooters, while Topeka scored on all three of its attempts. Despite a 14-5 shots advantage for Topeka, neither team scored in the 1st period. The second period was a tale of momentum. While shorthanded, a great play set up the first goal of the contest. Chipping the puck out of the zone, Topeka forward Cam Strong raced into the Wenatchee zone and beat goaltender Zach Quinn, giving Topeka a 1-0 lead at the 6:52 mark. At 8:40, forward Sly Sutter expanded Topeka’s lead with a power-play goal. Sutter followed up on a blocked shot from defenseman Daniel Brickley and rammed it past Quinn, making it 2-0. On the power play, the Wild got on the board at 10:48, as a loose puck sat behind goaltender Matej Tomek and it was poked in by Brendan Harris, making it 2-1 Topeka. Minutes later, forward Jake Ahlgren’s shot zoomed past a screened Tomek and beat Tomek glove side low, tying the game at two apiece. In the third, neither team was able to garnish a lot of strong offensive chances until the final minutes. The game went to overtime with 1:08 remaining on the Wild power play, but they were unable to score, taking the game to a shootout before Strong, Tyler Irvine and Daniel Rzavsky made goals for Topeka. Tomek made 33 saves in the win, while Quinn took the shootout loss, making 29 saves. Boxscore