The Ice Wolves entered tonight’s game with hopes of sweeping the fifth place, Corpus Christi IceRays. Yesterday, New Mexico won by a score of 4-3. It was the fifth meeting between the IceRays and Ice Wolves and the fourth time a game was decided by one goal. Henrik Laursen played in his eighth-straight game for New Mexico. As for Corpus Christi, they put in Jeremy Forman for game two.
The first period opened up with a lot of shots for New Mexico. They were doing everything they could to get the puck past Forman, however, none of their ten shots managed to do so. The IceRays were able to get on the board 8:38 into the opening period after Mac Wiseman (8) beat Laursen glove side. Wiseman’s goal gave Corpus Christi their first lead of the weekend. The first period ended with New Mexico outshooting Corpus Christi, 10-6.
The middle period is when the momentum started to shift in favor of the IceRays. Their first two shots of the second period found the back of the net. Evan Carroll (9) scored first and following him up was Ryan Coughlin (16). Slightly over the halfway point of the period and Corpus tacked on another goal. Getting his second goal of the night was Evan Caroll (10). The Ice Wolves continued to pressure Forman throughout the second period but once again headed into the locker room with zero goals. After 40 minutes of action, New Mexico had 23 shots and Corpus Christi had 17.
In the final period of regulation, New Mexico only recorded two shots. Corpus Christi tallied 14 and had one of those shots beat Laursen. Their fifth goal came off the stick of Erik Bargholtz (12) as time was winding down in the game. The IceRays went on to win 5-0 and snapped their four-game losing streak. Henrik Laursen finished the night with 26 saves. As for Forman, he picked up his second shutout of the season after stopping 25 Ice Wolves’ shots.
Tonight was the first time there was a shutout between these teams all season. It was also the first time New Mexico lost to Corpus Christi in regulation (3-1-0-2). The season series between New Mexico and Corpus Christi will conclude on the final two home games for the Ice Wolves (Mar. 20-21). Next weekend the Ice Wolves will host the Shreveport Mudbugs. It will be the final time Shreveport and New Mexico meet this season. New Mexico has not beaten Shreveport yet this year (0-6).