RiverKings Take Game 1 from Huntsville
March 28, 2014 - SPHL (SPHL)
Mississippi RiverKings News Release
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- Dan McWhinney stopped 31 of 33 shots against his former team and Devin Mantha tallied a pair of goals as the Mississippi RiverKings took Game 1 from the Huntsville Havoc with a 4-2 victory on Thursday night in Huntsville.
After a scoreless, yet physical, first period, the game opened up in the second. Matt Harrington collected a Devin Mantha rebound and buried it past Kevin Genoe on the penalty kill to put the RiverKings on top 1-0 just 4:45 into the middle frame. But Huntsville responded three minutes later. Josh Harris lifted a rebound off of Dan McWhinney up and over the RiverKings' netminder to tie the game at one. The RiverKings regained the lead with under four minutes remaining when Todd Hosmer evaded a check at the blueline and fed Matt Whitehead a pass that he deposited past Genoe to give the visitors the 2-1 lead.
In the third, the RiverKings extended their lead. Devin Manth weaved his way through the Havoc defense and slid the puck between the legs of Genoe to put the RiverKings up 3-1 with just under 3:30 remaining in regulation.
Huntsville chipped away late. Nick Lazorko's shot from the high slot slipped past the blocker of McWhinney with just 21 second remaining to cut the RiverKings' lead to one. But Mantha responded with his second goal of the game, a wrist shot into an empty net, to give the RiverKings a 4-2 victory in Game 1.
Dan McWhinney (1-0-0) stopped 31 of 33 shots against in the win. Kevin Genoe (0-1-0) took the loss in his first playoff game after turning aside 28 of 31 shots against.
The RiverKings and Havoc battle in Game 2 tomorrow night in Huntsville. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m. with all the action airing live at Old Style Bar-B-Q, the Official Away Game Watch Party Headquarters of the RiverKings.
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