Surge Fall to RiverKings in Shootout
Published on January 3, 2012 under SPHL (SPHL)
Mississippi Surge News Release
The latest round in the Battle of Mississippi in the Southern Professional Hockey League went the way of the RiverKings who defeated the Surge 3-2 Tuesday night Southaven. The loss is the first in a shootout for the Surge this season.
In spite of suffering its third straight one-goal loss, the Surge did earn a point in the standings. The Surge scored first in the game as Matt Kinnunen opened the scoring with his first goal in seven games as a member of the Surge. The RiverKings tied the game less than two minutes later on a goal by Jeff Topilko. It took just 50 seconds for the Surge to regain the lead, as the club's leading scorer Mark Versteeg-Lytwyn notched his third goal and fourth point in the last two games.
The teams battled through a scoreless second period and Mike Tuomi got the equalizer for the RiverKings at the 5:31 mark of the third period. Neither goaltender was extremely busy in regulation time as the RiverKings outshot the Surge 21-18, and neither team managed 10 shots on goal in any period.
In the overtime, the Surge had to kill off a penalty to force the shootout. The Surge had won its only shootout of the season, while the RiverKings had lost their only shootout this year. After Shawn Skelly failed on his attempt, Nick Vandenbeld became the first player to score on Surge goalie Kiefer Smiley in a shootout this season. It would be the only goal needed to seal the win. RiverKings goaltender David Wilson thwarted Versteeg-Lytwyn, Nick Guran, and Rob Campbell. When the RiverKings Mark Magnowski slid the puck past Smiley, the fifth round of the shootout became unnecessary, giving the RiverKings the win.
The Surge travels to Knoxville to play the IceBears Thursday and returns home Friday for the second half of a home and home series with Knoxville.
SPHL Stories from January 3, 2012
- Surge Fall to RiverKings in Shootout - Mississippi Surge
- RiverKings Win in Overtime - Mississippi RiverKings
- Columbus' Derek Pallardy Named SBK Player of the Week - SPHL
- Surge Weekly - Mississippi Surge
- Surge Visit Ice Flyers - Mississippi Surge
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