Killer Bees, Wildcats win on Tuesday

Rio Grande Valley 7 @ Corpus Christi 3 - The Corpus Christi IceRays fell behind early and could not come back in their 7-3 loss to the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees on Tuesday night. The Killer Bees edged on the scoreline first with a tap-in by forward Stathis Soumelidis at 10:33 to take a 1-0 lead. Just over a minute later at 11:40, Killer Bees forward Connor Wood took a slap shot from the slot and found the top of the net to double the lead, 2-0. The Killer Bees found one more before the end of the period at 19:04 on a touch-in by Dallas Gerads from the right side of the net to triple the lead, 3-0, heading into the first intermission. The IceRays found life from their team-leading point-scorer Wes Michaud on the power play in the second period. Michaud worked with the power play unit to knock home their first goal of the game at 11:08 and answer on the scoreline, 3-1. The surge was stifled at 16:12 with Killer Bees forward Cam Bleck going five-hole on IceRays netminder Andrew Lindgren coming off a strong offensive charge by the home side that ultimately put the Killer Bees up 4-1 after two periods. Two early penalties by IceRays defenseman Travis Howe and forward Maksim Dzhioshvili sunk Corpus Christi early in the third period. Gavin Cummings took two shots from the blue line and found the back of the net on consecutive chances at 1:00 and 1:43 to pump the Killer Bees to a 6-1 lead. That spelled the end of the night for Lindgren, giving way to Luke Pickar. Howe chipped in his second goal in as many games at 5:48 to cut the lead down, 6-2. IceRays forward Mason Krueger patched a tally just after the end of the power play at 7:52 to give the IceRays a late beacon, 6-3. A five-on-three power play for the Killer Bees helped Elliot Lorraine tack on another goal at 12:08 to push the game to its final score, 7-3. Killer Bees netminder Ben Johansson earned the win, stopping 29 of 32 shots, while Lindgren picked up the loss in a 19-for-25 effort, and Pickar stopped down six of seven shots in relief. Boxscore

Wichita Falls 7 @ Odessa 4 - Austin Beaulieu scored twice and four skaters posted multi-point nights, as the Wichita Falls Wildcats skated past the Odessa Jackalopes, 7-4, on Tuesday night. Beaulieu had two goals and an assist in the win, while Nick Farmer, Nikita Litviak and Kevin Charyszyn each notched two points on a goal and an assist. Matt Koch also had a multi-point outing with a pair of assists. Max Reisinger and Evan Okeley also found twine for Wichita Falls in the win, while Colin Staub, Tommy Apap, Konstantin Chernyuk, Shane Kuzmeski, Jeff Baum and Johnny Lazarus all tallied assists. Austin Shaw made 25 saves on 29 shots on goal in the win. The Wildcats controlled the majority of the first period and outshot Odessa in the frame, 20-7, while spending large spells of time in the offensive zone. That pressure paid off with two goals roughly two minutes apart, but surprisingly, the tallies came off transition rushes. Beaulieu opened the scoring at 9:21 of the first after he chased a loose puck the length of the ice. Soon after, Okeley doubled the Wildcats’ lead after skating onto a pass from Charyszyn into the neutral zone. Johansson steered the shot wide but the rebound sat nicely for Okeley to hammer on net, where it snuck through the body of Johansson to make it 2-0 Wichita Falls at 11:29 of the frame. The Jackalopes mounted some pressure in the second, and after the Wildcats made it 3-0 early in the frame, Odessa score two of its own from Razmuz Waxin-Engback and Ryan MacKellar to make it a one-goal game entering the third. In the third, Odessa tied the contest at three goals apiece early in the frame when Christian Hausinger snuck a shot through traffic in front, but Wichita Falls responded immediately after. With the ‘Cats on the power play, Matt Koch managed to work the puck on net. With players from both sides hacking at the disc, it fell to Farmer to turn home to make it 4-3. The Wildcats then made it 6-4 after a turnover in the defensive zone by Odessa. Farmer walked the puck from the wall and pump-faked on a shot, then played a pass down low to Charyszyn. His initial effort was stopped by Tanner Creel, but Charyszyn stayed with the play and tucked it past the netminder for a two-goal edge. The Jacks cut into the deficit once more when Dakoda Menslage finished off a rush with Waxin-Engback to make it 5-4, but that is as close as Odessa would come, as Beaulieu and Litviak would tack on goals in the waning stages of the contest to send the ‘Cats home 7-4 winners. Boxscore