AMARILLO, TEXAS – Goaltender Chad Veltri stopped all 41 shots in his NAHL debut to help the Corpus Christi IceRays (7-6-1-2) to a 3-0 blanking of the Amarillo Bulls (6-7-4-0) on Friday night at the Amarillo Civic Center. The shutout is the team’s second of the season and fourth 3-0 blanking in 2016.
Each side took control of half of the opening period before the IceRays hemmed the Bulls in throughout the middle portion. Three quick goals gave the IceRays the cushion they needed starting at 13:02 when defenseman Logan Gestro set up forward David Thomson on the back door with a wide open net thanks to quick puck movement to open the lead at 1-0. Just over one minute later at 14:15, after defenseman Cody Fleckenstein’s shot was stopped initially, forward Mason Krueger tucked in the second chance for his third-straight game with a goal to double the lead, 2-0. A third goal stretched across at 14:42 thanks to a re-direction from forward David Baskerville on a Fleckenstein point shot to triple the lead, 3-0. The three-goal spread is the quickest three-straight goals the IceRays have scored this season. The IceRays finished with 26 shots in the second period, setting a new junior franchise mark for most shots in a period set three different times starting on Sep. 16, 2010 against the Chicago Hitmen in the second period of that contest.
Both the Bulls and IceRays nearly notched a goal in the final period with both being waived off low in their respective creases, but Veltri became the focal point of the final frame. He was tested 18 more times in the period and turned aside all of the attempts to pick up the 3-0 shutout win in his NAHL debut. Veltri becomes the first player in junior franchise history to mark his league debut with a shutout victory.
Veltri (1-0-0) halted all 41 shots faced, while Bulls netminder Nikita Babintsev (5-5-0) turned aside 43 of 46 shots against him. The IceRays close the two-game weekend set against the Bulls on Saturday, Nov. 5 at 7:15 p.m. from the Amarillo Civic Center. Coverage begins at 7:00 p.m. on SportsRadio Corpus Christi (96.1FM & 103.3FM) in Corpus Christi and Hockey TV.
The IceRays return to home ice on Friday, Nov. 18 at 7:05 p.m. to open a weekend set against the Lone Star Brahmas from the American Bank Center on Stars & Stripes Weekend. Season memberships for the 2016-17 season are still available with full and partial season plans. Reserve yours by contacting the IceRays Front Office at 361-814-PUCK. In addition, stay connected with the IceRays on Facebook (/CorpusChristiIceRays), Twitter (@goicerays), YouTube (IceRays TV), Instagram (CorpusChristiIceRays), Snapchat (@goicerays), and Periscope (@goicerays).