Last weekend review – Bees sweep Brahmas

The Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees swept the Lone Star Brahmas last weekend and moved into third place in the South Division in the process. Ian Janco, Anthony Croston, Tyler Bruneteau and Evan Schmidbauer each scored a goal in the first game last weekend, helping the Bees earn a 4-1 win. In Game 2 last weekend, the Bees and Brahmas went into the third period tied, 2-2. The Bees got third-period goals from Aleksi Luhtalampi and Kevin Antipov to earn the 4-2 South Division victory.

Croston named South Division 2nd Star

Croston was named the South Division 2nd Star of the Week for his efforts last weekend against Lone Star. Croston tallied five points (2G, 3A) in the Bees’ sweep over the Brahmas. He was also plus-3 in the series. Croston ranks third on the team with 24 points (10G, 14A). Ben Greiner, who notched two points last weekend, was also named an honorable mention pick for South Division Star of the Week.

“He’s a very good player and has the ability to be an elite player,” Killer Bees head coach Joe Coombs said of Croston. “He’s such a great skater, a Division I skater for sure; he surely has gotten better over the course of the year, too.”

Killer Bees vs. IceRays

The Bees are 1-2 on the season against the IceRays. … Corpus Christi has outscored RGV on the season, 4-3. … Corpus Christi’s Kyle Froese is the only player in the season series to notch more than one point; he has a goal and an assist in the series. … Both teams’ power play units have lacked firepower so far in the season series. The Killer Bees are 0-15 on the man-advantage against the IceRays. Corpus Christi has one power-play goal on 16 chances against RGV. … Rio Grande Valley is 5-4-1 in its last 10 games while Corpus Christi is 3-6-1.

Home-and-home series

This weekend’s series will be split between Corpus Christi and Hidalgo. Thursday’s game will be played in Corpus Christi at AmericanBank Center while Friday’s game will be played in Hidalgo at the State Farm Arena. Both games are set to begin for 7:05 p.m. For a small fee, fans can watch Thursday’s game live by logging on to www.FASTHockey.com. To purchase tickets for Friday’s home game, visit www.ticketmaster.com or the State Farm Arena Box Office. For more information, contact the Killer Bees at (956) 843-5651 or email info@killerbeeshockey.com.

Follow the Killer Bees

Log on to www.KillerBeesHockey.com for the most current team news. Fans can also follow the team on Twitter (@KillerBHockey) and Facebook (Rio Grande Valley Killer Bee Hockey Team).

One-goal games

All three games played between the Bees and IceRays have highly competitive and decided by just one goal. Winning individual battles will be key in this weekend’s series.

“Out-compete them, it’s that simple,” Coombs said when asked for the key to defeating the IceRays this weekend. “You can draw up whatever you want to, but at the end of the day, it’s about winning the tough one-on-one battles, going into the corners, getting the loose pucks, outworking the other guy.”