AMARILLO, Texas – The Corpus Christi IceRays battled back to tie the game in the third period Friday, but Amarillo’s Linus Udd-Hellgren scored with 3:46 remaining as the NAHL-leading Bulls (33-7-1-2, 69 pts.) picked up a 4-3 win at the Budweiser Bull Pen.
Ben Biester, Kyle Gudme and Alexander Tertyshny scored for the IceRays (13-25-3-3, 32 pts.). Cal Sandquist had a number of highlight-reel stops in a 38-save outing for Corpus Christi.
Amarillo’s Matt Allen scored on the game’s first shot just 44 seconds into the first period. The Bulls then doubled their lead when Brett Postula recorded his first goal of the season at 3:10 of the second period.
Biester got the IceRays on the board with his fourth goal of the season at 13:16. Postula scored again at 17:35 before Kyle Gudme recorded his first goal as an IceRay with a shot from the left wing at 19:24.
Tertyshny picked up his first career NAHL goal at 7:43 of the third period, tying the game with a rebound of Tod Philibert’s point shot.
At the 16:14 mark, Noah Carlin’s shot rebounded to the corner of the Corpus Christi zone. David Hill then fed the puck to Udd-Hellgren in the slot, who fired the game-winning tally through traffic past Sandquist’s glove.
Biester (1+1), Logan Ommen (0+2) and Kyle Schroeder (0+2) each notched two-point nights for the IceRays.
The IceRays and Bulls rematch Saturday night in Amarillo at 7:05 p.m. CT. The game will be carried live on Sports Radio Corpus Christi 1230 AM-95.1 FM-96.1 FM (KSIX-AM/FM), mixlr.com/icerays and HockeyTV. Corpus Christi’s next home games are Feb. 7 and 9 against the New Mexico Ice Wolves.
IceRays tickets are on sale at the American Bank Center Box Office and all Ticketmaster outlets. For more information on the IceRays, or to purchase tickets, visit goicerays.com or call 361-814-PUCK (7825). Stay connected with the IceRays on Facebook (/CorpusChristiIceRays), Twitter (@goicerays) and Instagram (CorpusChristiIceRays).