The IceRays hit the road for what will be their fifth and sixth road games in the past eight games. The trip to Albuquerque will also be the last to New Mexico after concluding the four game road schedule against New Mexico.
Last weekend, the IceRays hosted the reigning Robertson Cup champion Shreveport Mudbugs last weekend at American Bank Center. The IceRays won 5-3 on Friday evening. On Saturday, the Mudbugs came away with a 4-1 victory.
New Mexico swept the IceRays in mid-October by winning both games 3-2 in overtime. Corpus Christi is 3-2-3 all time against New Mexico. The IceRays are 1-1-2 all time at Outpost Ice Arenas having only played one series in Albuquerque prior to this season.
Since joining the NAHL in 2019-20, the Ice Wolves haven’t had a ton of success in Albuquerque as they have missed the Robertson Cup Playoffs in both of their two seasons in the league. This season, head coach Phil Fox has the team in an excellent position early as New Mexico currently sits in third place with four games in hand of the first place Odessa Jackalopes.
Focusing more on the IceRays, Stepan Kuznetsov joined the IceRays in early-October. He started a bit slow for Corpus Christi as he recorded only one point in his first series with the team. Since then, Kuznetsov has put up four points in five games, which includes three goals in his last three games. He enters the weekend currently on a two game goal streak.
On Saturday night, Damon Beaver had his first night off since October 10th for the IceRays as Stefan Carney took to the net for Corpus Christi. Beaver has faced the most shots in the NAHL this season while maintaining a save percentage above .910 the entire time. Beaver faced 80 shots in two games against New Mexico the last time the teams played and helped Corpus get two points in the series.
IceRays fans can watch this weekend’s games against the Ice Wolves on HockeyTV or listen to the games on Brewster Street Radio. Drew Steele will provide play-by-play coverage of the games.