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Friday, December 22, 2000

IceRays hammer Mudbugs, 3-1
Paluseo scores two in victory
By Javier Becerra
Caller-Times

David Adame/Caller-Times

Corpus Christi’s Jeff Paluseo (right) scores the IceRays first goal of the night against Mudbug goalie Chad Lang Thursday night at the Memorial Coliseum.

With the Corpus Christi IceRays struggling to find consistency on offense, defense hadn't been too much of a concern for head coach Taylor Hall.
   Thursday night against Bossier-Shreveport, Eddy Skazyk played true to Hall's words. The Corpus Christi goaltender stopped 32 of 33 shots to help lead the IceRays to a 3-1 win over the Mudbugs at Memorial Coliseum.
   "I was very proud to see Eddy step up," said Hall, whose IceRays travel to Monroe for a 7 p.m. matchup today against the Moccasins. "He's kind of taken a back seat both years he's been with us. Eddy singlehandedly shut down the Mudbugs."
   Skazyk and the IceRays held the Mudbugs scoreless until late in the third period when B-S defenseman Mark Rupnow nullified the shutout with a goal with 46 seconds left to play.
   Corpus Christi forward Jeff Paluseo scored twice, including an empty-net goal with 11 seconds left to help lift the IceRays to 16-15-1 (33 points) in the Western Professional Hockey League Eastern Division. Brad Wingfield scored his sixth goal of the season at the 6:10 mark of the third period.
   Paluseo credited his performance to the recent signings of forwards Tobin Praznik and Layne Roland.
   "When you look at the players that just came in, they're very skilled players. That takes a lot of pressure off," said Paluseo, who scored his eighth and ninth goals of the season. "We weren't scoring goals, but when you bring guys like that in you feel like you can start scoring. If you look at the lineup you see guys that can put the puck in the net.
   "When you got guys like Roland and Praznik it's easy. All you have to do is get to the blue line and just look for the puck."
   The Mudbugs dropped its second straight game to fall to 16-12-1 in the Eastern Division standings.
   B-S found itself on the attack early in the game and took two hard shots at Skazyk, but the IceRays goalie made two sensational glove saves to thwart the Mudbugs.
   The Mudbugs went on their first power play almost three minutes into the opening period, and the IceRays nearly scored their eighth shorthanded goal of the season 40 seconds into the penalty time. Chad Lang, making his third straight start in goal for B-S, deflected the puck out to the left boards through the horde of players crowding the crease.

David Adame/Caller-Times

C.C.’s Dave Wiletjo (left) and Bossier-Shreveport’s Toby Burkitt tangle Thursday night in the IceRays 3-1 win over the Mudbugs.

   With 19 seconds left on the power play, Skazyk denied the Mudbugs with yet another glove save as he was falling to the ice.
   At the 5:24 mark, Corpus Christi went on its first power play, but the Mudbugs immediately cleared the puck into the IceRays' zone. B-S's Jason Campbell managed to steal the puck from two Corpus Christi defenders and was left one-on-one with Skazyk, who made another glove-side save.
   Corpus Christi had another power play opportunity midway through the first period, but a line change had the IceRays working mostly on keeping the Mudbugs from clearing the puck out of their zone. The IceRays managed just one shot during the power play.
   B-S's Derek McKinlay was called for hooking with 4:25 left before intermission, giving Corpus Christi a man advantage for the third time in the period. With eight seconds of penalty time left, Corpus Christi forward Alex Kholomeyev blasted a shot from the right circle. Paluseo, standing just to the right of the net, deflected the puck off his stick past the outstretched arm of Lang to give the IceRays a 1-0 lead.
   Corpus Christi began the second period with nearly two minutes of penalty time to work with, but it was the Mudbugs who controlled the puck until the penalty expired.
   Paluseo had another scoring opportunity with eight minutes left in the second period. The 5-foot-10, 178-pound Paluseo had the puck on a breakaway attempt on Lang but wasn't able to convert against the stingy goaltender.
   Four minutes remained before the second intermission when newly acquired Layne Roland squeezed through two B-S defenders right in front of the Mudbugs' net. Just as Roland set up for a shot, the puck slowly drifted out of the reach of his stick.
   With 3:22 left in the second, Corpus Christi's Jeff Cheeseman was taken down in the slot by B-S's Tony Bergin, giving Corpus Christi a man advantage. The Mudbugs' penalty killing unit kept the IceRays from adding to their lead.
   Staff writer Javier Becerra can be reached at 886-3734 or by e-mail at becerraj@caller.com

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