Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - IceRays' season ends in collapse

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Saturday, April 8, 2000

IceRays' season ends in collapse
Three-goal third drains playoff life from CC, 4-3
By Mark Button
Caller-Times

John Kennedy/Caller-Times

Corpus Christi's Tobin Praznik (left) skates back to his bench as New Mexico players celebrate Friday after scoring the eventual game-winning goal in the Scorpions' 4-3 victory over the IceRays in Game 4 of the WPHL playoff quarterfinals.

The meltdown became official 4 minutes, 49 seconds into the IceRays' final period of the season.
   After blowing a three-goal lead, IceRays forward Brad Wingfield took a vicious slash at New Mexico's Doug Wood, a chop that sent Wood to the ice and kept him there for more than a full minute. Wingfield received a seven-minute major penalty and a game misconduct the slash, which put the Scorpions on an extended power play.
   New Mexico forward Todd Marcellus then scored what proved to be the game-winning goal - and the IceRays' season-ending goal - 2:54 into the penalty.
   With four unanswered goals for the second straight night, New Mexico defeated Corpus Christi, 4-3, in Game 4 of the Western Professional Hockey League President's Cup quarterfinals.
   With the win, the Scorpions eliminated the IceRays from the playoffs, three games to one.
   "It doesn't take a genius to figure out that a bad penalty cost us," Corpus Christi coach Taylor Hall said. "Emotions ran high. A mistake is a mistake, but I don't think it was one mistake that cost us. It was a build up. I think New Mexico was more poised when the pressure was on. When the pressure was on us, we panicked."
   Wingfield got into penalty trouble in the IceRays' 5-3 loss in Game 3 as well. He served 20 minutes in that game, including a 10-minute misconduct and a four-minute roughing penalty.
   New Mexico coach Tony Martino said the seven-minute major Wingfield incurred put his team in position to win.
   "It hurt them considerably," Martino said. "They had to fight, scratch and claw to try and kill that penalty. Sometimes in emotional games, players are going to do things that will hurt their teams. I know, I've been down that road myself. This time it was someone on the other team." The IceRays held a comfortable 3-1 lead after two periods, but all that changed 1:55 into the third period.
   Marcellus weaved through the Corpus Christi defense on a power play and beat Genik with a point-blank wrist shot to put the Scorpions within a goal, 3-2.
   One minute, 20 seconds later, the game was tied, 3-3, on a Nick Forbes rebound goal.
   After Wingfield's slashing major, Marcellus scored his second goal, and the Scorpions' fourth straight, after falling behind, 3-0. "I saw him coming," Wood said of Wingfield. "I didn't think he was going to slash me like that. But we knew they were going to do something. It seemed to happen quite a bit (in Game 3)."
   A chippy game
   The rough play exhibited in Thursday's Game 3 continued on Friday.
   Wingfield earned the game's first penalty before it was a minute old. The 6-foot, 220-pound IceRays forward set the tone for the game by running over New Mexico goalie Luciano Caravaggio as the goalie tried to clear the puck from behind his net. Wingfield received a roughing penalty and later was tagged with a 10-minute misconduct penalty for some pushing and shoving after the whistle stopped play late in the first period.
   As they did in Game 3, the IceRays struck first on the scoreboard Friday.
   Layne Roland punched a shot past Caravaggio 7:33 into the game to give Corpus Christi a 1-0 lead. Assisted by Dustin McArthur and Tobin Praznik, the goal was Roland's third of the playoffs. The IceRays protected the lead for the remainder of the period but the friction between the two teams was just getting started.
   A rare playoff site
   Though fighting is uncommon in the playoffs, when two teams insist on playing such a physical brand of hockey it's just a matter of time before two players square off.
   So it was Friday when McArthur and New Mexico's Derek Crawford let their adrenaline get the best of them 8:48 into the game. The two exchange punches at center ice for nearly a minute before the linesmen broke up the tilt.
   The IceRays added to their lead early in the second period on a Dustin McArthur goal at the 2:21 mark. McArthur, who scored the overtime game-winner in Game 1, found himself all alone in the slot, about 10 feet in front of Caravaggio. Roland got McArthur the puck from behind the New Mexico net and McArthur buried a low wrist in the back of the net.
   Corpus Christi them took total control of the game 4:31 later when Kurt Wickenheiser's league-leading eighth playoff goal gave the IceRays a 3-0 lead. Wickenheiser's goal came on a Corpus Christi penalty kill after Alex Kolomeyev received a five-minute major and a 10-minute misconduct penalty for running Scorpions forward Peter Ambroziak into the boards. Meanwhile, IceRays goaile Jason Genik shut down all of New Mexico's offensive efforts. The Winnipeg, Manitoba native wasn't afraid to come out of his net to clear pucks and take away shooting angles, as he swatted away the first 17 Scorpions offerings.
   New Mexico finally cracked Genik with its 18th shot.
   Scorpions forward Jason Glover answered Wickenheiser's short-handed goal with one of this own with 1:55 to play in the second period.
   Corpus Christi led after 40 minutes, 3-1.
   "That really sparked us," Martino said.

   New Mexico 0 1 3 -- 4
   Corpus Christi 1 2 0 -- 3
   FIRST PERIOD -- 1, Corpus Christi, Layne Roland (McArthur, T. Praznik), 7:33. PENALTIES-Wingfield, CC (roughing), 0:48; McArthur, CC (fighting), 8:48; Crawford, CC (fighting), 8:48; Pengelly, NM (slashing), 10:43; Genik, CC (roughing), 10:43; Ambroziak, NM (high-sticking), 11:21; Wingfield, CC (10-misconduct), 14:15.
   SECOND PERIOD -- 2, Corpus Christi, Dustin McArthur (Johnson, Roland), 2:21. 3, Corpus Christi, Kurt Wickenheiser (Olsen), 6:50, (sh). 4, New Mexico, Jason Glover (Murphy, Johnson), 18:15, (sh). PENALTIES-Kholomeyev, CC (boarding major, 10-min. misconduct), 6:40; NM bench (too many men on ice), 9:35; Boucher, NM (slashing), 16:29; Lavoie, NM (obstruction tripping), 18:55.
   THIRD PERIOD -- 5. New Mexico, Todd Marcellus (Felix), 3:05, (pp). 6, New Mexico, Nick Forbes (Murphy, Glover), 4:25. 7, New Mexico, Marcellus (Lavoie, Goldie), 7:53, (pp). PENALTIES-Olsen, CC (holding), 1:52; Wingfield, CC (slashing major, 10-min. misconduct, game misconduct), 4:59; Goldie, NM (illegal equipment), 16:21;
   SHOTS ON GOAL-New Mexico 8-10-11 29. Corpus Christi 10-12-8 30. GOALIES-Corpus Christi, Jason Genik(1-1). New Mexico, Luciano Caravaggio (3-1). REFEREE-Peter Friesma.

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