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Kansas City Mavericks

Mavericks Triumph In Tulsa

November 16, 2014 - ECHL (ECHL)
Kansas City Mavericks News Release


Tulsa, OK - The Missouri Mavericks (5-4-0-0) got back in the win column on Saturday night with a 5-2 win over the Central Division leading Tulsa Oilers (5-4-1) at the BOK Center in Tulsa. The win is the fourth in Missouri's last five games and it is the seventh straight win in Tulsa for the Mavs over the past two seasons. Missouri is 35-10-3 all-time against Tulsa. The seven goals for the Mavs mark the largest offensive output this season (scored five times in win in Tulsa on November 4 and in win in Wichita on November 9).

The Mavs were all over the Oilers in the opening minutes of the first period with Chris Crane scoring a pair of goals in a two minute time frame, his first two goals of the season. Both were shots that Tulsa Head Coach Bruce Ramsay probably thought should have been stopped leading to Oilers goalie Brady Hjelle being chased from the game (Kevin Carr replaced him just 4:06 into the game).

"We watched video of last night's loss," said Missouri Head Coach Richard Matvichuk. "We missed so many shots in the first two periods of that game so tonight a big focus was getting the puck on net and we did that early and had success."

Crane should be quite familiar with Hjelle as both were members of the Ohio State University hockey team before turning pro.

The Mavs spent a large majority of the second half of the first period in the penalty box with four consecutive minors called that also produced some 5-on-3 time (53 seconds) for Tulsa but Missouri's penalty kill was sharp and John Griggs stopped everything thrown his way.

It was after the Mavs had to kill the flurry of penalties that Tulsa jumped on the board with their third line creating a chance on an odd-man rush that was finished by Charles Lachance who scored his second goal of the season.

Missouri led 2-1 after one period and the early lead was something they have not experienced often this season as entering tonight, only twice in eight games have the Mavs scored first (2-0 in those games entering Saturday's game). Both teams had 10 shots on goal in the opening period.

After killing their fifth shorthanded chance of the night early in the second period, the Mavs would strike again. On a busted odd-man rush, the Mavs would move the puck from Lindsay Sparks to Andrew Courtney and eventually to the front of the net where Jared Brown shoveled his second goal of the season past Carr giving Missouri a 3-1 lead.

That line would make the count 4-1 later in the period when Courtney took a pass from Brown behind the net and then threaded a pass to Sparks who connected on his third goal of the season. The Mavs weren't done as the Captain Sebastien Thinel scored his fourth goal of the season on a breakaway after a terrific pass from Martin Lee at the 15:25 mark.

"All of our lines did a great job tonight," said Matvichuk. "They did the right thing and were in the right spots and it put pressure on Tulsa. Our fore-check made a big difference in the game."

Tulsa gained some momentum towards the end of the second period with Steve Mele scoring his first goal of the season, second point of the game, scored at the 17:55 mark. The Oilers had several chances in the final minutes of the frame and a late penalty from Devin DiDiomete gave Tulsa a four minute power play that would carry over into the third period.

The Mavs were sharp on the PK to start the third period killing all 3:30 that remained in DiDiomete's penalties and both teams punched and counter-punched throughout a good chunk of the final period.

The Oilers pulled to within two goals with their top sniper, Adam Pleskach, scoring his 10th goal of the season with just over eight minutes remaining in the final period. Pleskach has scored six times in the three games against the Mavs this season. Mele had an assist giving him a goal and a pair of assists in the game.

Mele wasn't done trying to lead his team to a comeback as he skated around the net and lifted his second score of the night past Griggs at the 14:28 mark making the score 5-4 but Brandon Hynes would answer for Missouri just over a minute later regaining the cushion at 6-4. Mele would finish with four points in the game.

Martin Lee would add his third goal of the season, on the power play, making it a 7-4 win for Missouri. All three of Lee's goals have come with the man advantage and all three have come in the BOK Center.

Griggs improves to 3-1 on the season after making 26 saves in the game. Carr takes the loss with 23 saves in the game.

The Mavs finished the game 1 for 4 on the power play and Tulsa went 0 for 7.

Missouri will conclude their three-games-in-three-nights weekend with an afternoon game in Wichita against the Thunder on Sunday. Face-off is set for 5:05 PM (CT) at the INTRUST Bank Arena.

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