Rayz force Bees to Tapp out

HIDALGO - If you need another example of why the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees are the worst team in the CHL, look no further than the last 12 minutes of the second period Wednesday night.

In that time, the Bees allowed three goals, all of them with varying degrees of cheapness. They allowed the Corpus Christi Rayz to score just 21 seconds after pulling to within one goal and had one of their own waved off for goalie interference.

Combined, that turned what had been a decent Bees effort into their 39^th loss of the season, losing 6-2 to the Rayz, a team with only 13 healthy skaters. The defeat means this season's Bees team can win only a maximum of 18 games, which would still be one fewer than the 2004-2005 team.

Obviously, Bees coach Paul Fixter wasn't too interested in that stat. Instead, he was more concerned with how his team reached that dubious mark.

"One thing was proven to me tonight, that our team isn't even good enough to win a non-contact game," Fixter said of a game that was noticeably devoid of any checks or physicality. "The only hit was when (Bees forward Travis) Banga ran into (Rayz goalie Jason) Tapp, and that might be the only hit I saw all night."

That play, with 11:11 left in the second, started a chain of events that sent the Bees to another loss. Tied at 1, Banga tried to chase down a Rob Voltera pass and skated into Tapp, with the puck trickling into the net.

Referee Zac Wiebe immediately waved off the goal and called Banga for interference. Five seconds after the end of the penalty, Rayz forward Nicklas Lindberg scored the first of Corpus Christi's three goals in the last 10 minutes of the second.

That goal not only gave the Rayz the lead, it also showed that goaltending was the difference between two teams with not much left to play for. While Tapp made 49 saves and was the game's first star, Bees goalie David Lemanowicz struggled again.

"The bottom line is, they had six goals and we certainly could have had six," Fixter said. "I thought Jason Tapp was outstanding. He looked like an octopus in net. He had arms coming out everywhere."

After the second period, Fixter made a point of approaching Tapp to compliment him for his play.

"I mentioned to him, ‘Great saves'. And his comment to me was ‘Horseshoe,'" Fixter said. "I don't think it was a horseshoe. I think he's a heck of a goalie who makes great saves. And bottom line, for a non-contact game, their goaltender was better than ours. We got out-goaltendered. That's it."  

ICING: Bees defenseman Josh Garbutt played for the first time since suffering a facial injury on March 8. ... RGV forward Mike Tuomi played against his cousin, Niko, a Corpus Christi defenseman. Niko had one assist and was a plus-4. Mike had an assist and took four shots. ... RGV forward Nick Warriner left the game late in the third period with an apparent injury to his left leg.

Brian Sandalow covers the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4436.  

RAYZ 6, KILLER BEES 2

CC                             1        3       2    -       6

RGV                           1        1       0    -       2

First period - 1, RGV, Garbutt 7 PP (Tuomi, Lapointe) 8:43; 2, CC, Parrish 13 PP (Latuilippe, Quenneville) 17:41 Penalties - Parrish, CC (hooking) 7:59; Van Hoof, RGV (tripping) 14:46; Van Hoof, RGV (high-sticking) 17:19.

Second period - 3, CC, Lindberg 12 (Jankus) 10:54; 4, CC, Latuilippe 13 (Quenneville) 13:21; 5, RGV, Maxwell 12 PP (Van Hoof) 17:43; 6, CC, Powell 14 (Shaffer) 1:56. Penalties - Winchester, CC (tripping) 1:19; Lapointe, RGV (hooking) 1:50; Banga, RGV (goalie interference) 8:49. Latuilippe, CC (interference) 17:25; Smith, CC (roughing) 20:00; McNeill, RGV (roughing) 20:00.

Third period - 7, CC, Smith 7 (Tuomi, Quenneville) 3:36; 8, CC, Lindberg 13 SH (Quenneville) 5:15. Penalties - Latuilippe, CC (delay of game) 4:05; Weitzel, RGV (hooking) 6:51.

Power-play opportunities: CC:1-5 ; RGV: 2-4.   

Shots - CC:15-20-16-51;  RGV: 18-17-16-51

Goalies - Corpus Christi: Jason Tapp 51-49 (21-28-7); RGV: David Lemanowicz 51-45 (7-24-4).

A - 4,020 T - 2:22

Referee - Zac Wiebe Linesmen - Brock Geris, Kyle Simms