CHL Mississippi RiverKings

Tulsa Outscores RiverKings To Tighten Conference Race

Published on November 10, 2009 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Mississippi RiverKings News Release


(Southaven, MS) --- The CHL Northern Conference race tightened at the top as the Tulsa Oilers defeated the Mississippi RiverKings in a offensive showcase, 6-5 on Tuesday, November 10th in Southaven. With the result, the top three teams in the Northern Conference race are now separated by just two points.

Mississippi got on the scoreboard first in a busy period offensively, when Dane Marshall scored his second goal of the year at 4:23 for a 1-0 lead

Tulsa evened the score at 1-1 when former RiverKings forward Dallas Steward scored his third marker of the year (and second against Mississippi) less than a minute later at 5:12.

But the RiverKings responded with two goals for a 3-1 lead. Cam Severson scored his fifth goal of the year, a shorthanded goal with teammate Adam Smyth in the penalty box for a 2-1 RiverKings lead at 8:34. That was followed by a power play goal scored by Ryan Held just over three minutes later at 11:38 for a 3-1 Mississippi advantage.

However, Dan Riedel netted a power play goal for Tulsa at 12:52 for a 3-2 Mississippi advantage after one period of play.

Tulsa took control of the game in the second period with three goals, two of them coming on the power play. T.J. Caig netted the first two goals, one coming with a RiverKing in the penalty box, giving the Oilers a 4-3 lead. That score became 5-3 for the Oilers with 1.6 seconds remaining when Rob Hisey scored the Oilers' third power play goal of the night.

The RiverKings came out gunning in the third period, when Matt Pierce scored his first goal of the year at 57 seconds into the third period.

But the eventual game-winning score for Tulsa came nearly four minutes later at 4:36, when Riedel scored his second of the evening for a 6-4 lead.

Mississippi pulled goaltender Ray Jean for an extra attacker late in the game and it paid dividends when Held scored his second goal of the game and tenth of the season with 1:27 remaining in the contest.

However, the RiverKings couldn't get the tying goal and the Oilers came away with their second win in three tries against Mississippi.

The RiverKings outshot the Oilers by a 41-26 margin, outshooting Tulsa by a 17-4 margin in the final period. Ray Jean fell to 6-4-0 for the year, stopping 20 shots, while winning goalie Kevin Armstrong stopped 36 RiverKings shots on net.

Mississippi scored once on the power play in four tries, while the Oilers were 3-for-7 with an extra man.

Despite the loss, the RiverKings remain in first place in the Central Hockey League's Northern Conference at 6-6-0 for 12 points, but Tulsa moved to within two points of the RiverKings with a 5-3-0 record and ten points.

Prior to the game on Tuesday, the RiverKings waived Matt Smyth and activated forward Matt Summers from the injured reserve list. Summers played his first game Tuesday night since being injured in the team's second game of the season at Wichita. Smyth was acquired after the season started and played eight games with no points and 27 penalty minutes.

Several area non-profit groups were featured during the contest as part of Non-Profit Expo Night, showcasing how the RiverKings and non-profit groups work for the betterment of the Mid-South community.

Next up for the RiverKings is a Friday date with Bossier-Shreveport, starting at 7:05 PM in Southaven. For ticket information, contact the RiverKings at 662-342-1755 or go online to www.riverkings.com.

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Central Hockey League Stories from November 10, 2009


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