Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - IceRays rally not enough for a win

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Monday, April 2, 2001
IceRays rally not enough for a win
T-Rex hang in for 4-3 victory over C.C.
By Lee Goddard
Caller-Times

George Gongora/Caller-Times

Tupelo's third goal of the game coasts by Corpus Christi's Eddy Skazyk in the teams' third playoff game Sunday. Tupelo won, 4-3. The series now moves to Tupelo.

So much for the notion that the IceRays' regular-season dominance over Tupelo would carry over to the postseason.
   The T-Rex laid a second-period, three-goal barrage on Corpus Christi in a span of slightly more than four minutes, and held off a third-period rally for a 4-3 victory in Game 3 of the first round of the Western Professional Hockey League playoffs Sunday evening at Memorial Coliseum.
   "There's no question about it. We didn't play well those few minutes," winger Tobin Praznik said of the second-period outburst. "They know how to put the puck in the net and we came out a little flat.
   "When you're playing that powerful a team, you can lose the game in that three, four minutes if you're not playing your best."
   After posting a 3-1-1 regular-season mark - and winning the playoff series opener - against Tupelo, which had the league's best record, Corpus Christi has dropped consecutive games, including a 7-1 defeat Saturday night.
   It didn't help the IceRays that Kurt Wickenheiser missed the game, serving a one-game suspension for a high sticking call on Saturday.
   At least the IceRays should have Wickenheiser for the final four games of the series, which will, if necessary, all be played in Tupelo. Corpus Christi needs to win three of four from the team with the best home record in the WPHL to advance into the second round.
   "We've won there before," IceRays coach Taylor Hall said. "We won there and lost in a shootout there. We may even play better over there. We know our days in the Igloo are finished (with Buc Days occupying the Coliseum through the remainder of the postseason) so, if we want to move on, we're going to have to win on the road."
   It appeared the IceRays had shaken off Saturday's defeat and were ready to win at home when Matt Van Horlick took a beautiful cross-ice pass from Alex Kholomeyev and beat T-Rex goalie Stu Dunn to give Corpus Christi a 1-0 advantage.
   Eddy Skazyk, in net for the IceRays, also had a strong first, facing five shots early and stoning the T-Rex on each effort.
   But the defense gave way in the second. Little more than two minutes into the period, Ryan Rintoul beat Skazyk with a shot from the blueline.
   Just over two minutes later, the IceRays lost the lead for good when they turned over the puck in their own zone. Thomas Stewart fed Dave Szabo, who fired a shot by Skazyk for the 2-1 T-Rex advantage.
   "Tupelo's a great offensive team, and they score in bunches usually," Hall said. "We just let up for a couple of minutes and - boom, boom - before you know it, we're down."
   After Tupelo added another goal less than a minute later, and one to start the third period, Corpus Christi found itself trailing 4-1 and having to rally without the services of Wickenheiser and Brad Wingfield, who was given a game misconduct at the end of the second.
   While three power-play opportunities helped the IceRays in the final period, the team could only convert on one when Bob Quinnell beat Dunn to trim the lead to 4-2. With Skazyk pulled in the final moments, Dennis Shirayaev beat Dunn to cut the lead to 4-3 with 30 seconds remaining in the game.
   Overall, Corpus Christi couldn't capitalize on the chances it had against Dunn. For the third consecutive game, the IceRays outshot Tupelo. But, while putting 34 shots on Dunn and facing 18 themselves, the IceRays had trouble translating those chances into goals.
   Dunn made strong saves on a pair of first quarter point-blank shots from Praznik, and later stuffed Wingfield on a breakaway toward the end of the second.
   "We definitely had our chances," Hall said. "But their goaltender played well. You have play for a full 60 minutes to win."
   Tupelo 0 3 1-4
   Corpus Christi 1 0 2--3
   First period - CC, Van Horlick 1 (Kholomeyev, Roland) 10:43. Penalties - Butler, Tupelo (slashing) 7:37; Wingfield, CC (elbowing) 16:17; Van Volsen, Tupelo (tripping) 18:27.
   Second period - Tupelo, Rintoul 2 (Harper, Firth) 2:04; Tupelo, Szabo 2 (Stewart) 5:23; Tupelo, Blackned 2 (Firth) 6:16. Penalties - Van Horlick, CC (slashing) 2:14; Van Volsen, Tupelo (slashing) 2:14; Blackned, Tupelo (high sticking) 2:55; Hearn, CC (slashing) 2:55; Pool, CC (roughing) 13:35; Wingfield, CC (game misconduct) 19:20; Powers, Tupelo (high sticking) 19:58.
   Third period - Tupelo, Beausoleil (Mancini, Butler) 2:09; CC, Quinnell (Kholomeyev, Shiryaev); CC, Shiryaev (Bumstead) 19:30. Penalties - Butler, Tupelo (boarding) 3:05; Firth, Tupelo (hooking) 7:30; Roland, CC (hooking) 10:19.
   Shots on goal - Tupelo 18, CC 34. Power-play opportunities - Tupelo 0-3; Corpus Christi 1-5. Goalies - Tupelo, Dunn 7-14-10 (34 shots-31 saves); Corpus Christi, Skazyk 5-6-3 (18 shots-14 saves). Referee - Guy Pellerin. Linesman - Randy Sappo, Eric Von Feldt. A - 2,903.

Staff writer Lee Goddard can be reached at 886-3613 or by e-mail at goddardl@caller.com

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