Lone Star Brahmas – Corpus Christi Icerays Preview
By Kirk Estes
The Lone Star Brahmas will head to the Texas Gulf Coast for a single game on Saturday against the Corpus Christi Icerays. The Brahmas and Icerays are both coming off mixed results at the NAHL Showcase Tournament last week. Lone Star came away with a 2 – 2 – 0 record while Corpus Christi was 2 – 1 – 1. Their only common opponent in the tournament was the Kenai River Brown Bears. The Icerays downed the Brown Bears 5 – 2 on Wednesday and the Brahmas defeated Kenai River 3 – 2 on Thursday afternoon.
Coach Dan Wildfong took the Brahmas into Blaine Minnesota with high expectations. The results at least on the scoreboard were mixed. In game one Lone Star took on the Minnesota Magicians. While the Brahmas were coming off a 16 hour bus ride they controlled much of the play. Lone Star outshot the Magicians 20 – 8 in the second and third periods, but could not get the equalizer dropping a 3 – 2 decision.
The season’s first win came on Thursday against Kenai River with a huge effort from the penalty kill. The Brahmas held a 3 – 1 lead midway through the third period when the penalty bug bit. First they were faced with a 1:57 five on three that they managed to kill off before a major penalty at 16:03 put them a man down the rest of the way. Kenai River did pull within one with 1:12 to go, but could get no closer and the Brahmas escaped with a 3 – 2 win.
Friday’s opponent was the Coulee Region Chill who carried a 2 – 0 lead into the first intermission. What ever Coach Wildfong said in the locker room worked and the Brahmas came out and scored three in the second and another in the third. The Chill did get one back midway through the third but it was too little too late and the Brahmas prevailed 4 – 3.
After getting to the hotel at around 11:00pm on Friday evening the Brahmas had to be back on the ice for a 12:15pm puck drop against the Janesville Jets on Saturday. The fatigue was evident from the opening faceoff as Lone Star had no answer for the Jets’ speed. Janesville dominated play out shooting the Brahmas 33 – 13 to claim a 4 – 1 win.
Corpus Christi made a stop in Topeka on the way to Blaine and dropped a pair of games to the Road Runners by scores of 4 – 3 SO and 5 – 2. They opened the Showcase with their 5 – 2 win over Kenai River on the power of an Anthony Cortese hat trick. In game two Corpus Christi allowed a goal at the 7:32 mark of the first for the only scoring in the game as they lost 1 – 0 to the Minnesota Wilderness. Friday, the Icerays scored twice in the last 1:01 of the first period and then held on for a 2 – 0 win over the Wenatchee Wild. Corpus Christi lost their second shootout in their first six games to close out the tournament. The loss to the Keystone Ice Miners was by a final score of 4 – 3 and was Keystone’s only win of the tournament.
| Last 5 Games | W |
L
OTL
Pts
Brahmas
2
2
0
4
Icerays
2
2
1
5
Special Teams
With the limited number of games played it is rather difficult to get a good read on the special teams play so far. However, the Brahmas currently set at 18.75% with the man advantage. They have converted 3 of 16 opportunities. The penalty kill is at 15.00% allowing 3 goals on 20 kills. Lone Star has averaged 4 power play opportunities and 5 penalty kills per game in the early going.
Corpus Christi is fairing slightly better on both the power play and the penalty kill. They have scored 5 power play goals on 24 opportunities for 20.83%. When a man down, they have allowed 5 goals on 26 penalty kills. The Icerays are averaging 4 power plays per game and 4.33 times short handed.
Goaltending Comparison Last 5 Games
W |
L
OTL
SO
GA
GAA
SV
SV%
Brahmas
2
2
0
0
12
3.00
88
.880
Icerays
2
2
1
1
12
2.37
126
.894
Who is Hot (Last 5 Games)
| Brahmas | G |
A
Pts
2
2
4
0
4
4
1
2
3
1
1
2
1
1
2
1
1
2
Icerays
G
A
Pts
4
1
5
0
5
5
2
2
4
2
2
4
2
1
3
Inside the Game
The Brahmas have had a fairly balanced attack with goals from nine different players in their four games. Cody Wickline is the only player with multiple goals scored.
Five of the Icerays 15 goals this season have come from the blueline with Anthony Cortese’s leading the way including a hat trick against Kenai River. In all seven Corpus Christi players have found the back of the net in six games played.
Rookie goaltender Jake Kupsky picked up both wins for the Brahmas at the Showcase and has a 1.73 GAA to go along with a .936 SV%.
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Andrew Lindgren has put up a 2 – 0 – 2 record for Corpus Christi suffering both shootout losses for the Icerays. He currently has a 1.92 GAA and a .924 SV%.
Brahmas’ defenseman Caleb Thompson comes into the game in Corpus Christi on a three game point streak.
In the early going, Corpus Christi has a +2.5 shots on goal differential averaging 25.5 shots for and 23 shots against per game. Lone Star is setting on a -2.5 differential with 22.5 shots for and 25 shots against.