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CHL Mississippi RiverKings

Christian nets game-winner as final shooter in RiverKings' debut

October 9, 2010 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Mississippi RiverKings News Release


SOUTHAVEN, MS --- Mississippi defeated Bossier-Shreveport 3-2 in a shootout to open both teams' Central Hockey League pre-season schedules in a Saturday night tilt at the DeSoto Civic Center in Southaven, Mississippi. Scheduled to start at 6:05 PM, the contest was delayed nearly an hour after the Bossier-Shreveport bus encountered a flat tire that delayed their trip by up to three hours.

In the victory, forward Jeff Christian provided the RiverKings the game-winning goal as the tenth shooter of the five-round shootout session, before 1,256 in attendance. His backhand shot went into the net to give Mississippi a 2-1 shootout difference, in taking a 3-2 victory.

Mississippi opened the scoring in the first period when Darrell Stoddard took a pass from Louis Dumont and buried it past Bossier-Shreveport goaltender Jeff Harvey for a power play goal at 5:45 of the first frame. Anthony Battaglia also assisted on the RiverKings' goal.

From there, Bossier-Shreveport rallied, as Shane Hart scored for the Mudbugs at the 15:22 mark of the first period, a red-lighter that tied the game at 1-1 after one period.

David Rutherford netted Bossier-Shreveport's only lead of the night in the second period, scoring a shorthanded goal at 3:48 for a 2-1 Mudbug lead.

But Ryan Kretzer dribbled a backhander that bounced past Bossier-Shreveport goaltender Jeff Harvey and into the net to tie the game at 2-2 with 6:38 remaining in the second period. Derek Landmesser assisted on Kretzer's goal that became the final one in regulation and the resulting overtime. The tally came with each team a man short.

In the shootout, Matt Summers scored as the RiverKings' first shooter, but Rutherford scored to tie the shootout in the second round. Both goaltenders became more stingy, not allowing anything else before Christian's game-winner in round five.

Larry Sterling was the winning goalie for the RiverKings, as he stopped 29 shots. Jeff Harvey took the shootout loss for the Mudbugs, as he allowed two goals and stopped 33 shots on net.

Mississippi outshot Bossier-Shreveport 36-31 in the game. The RiverKings were 1-for-10 on the power play, while Bossier-Shreveport was 0-for-2 with a shorthanded goal. The Mudbugs racked up 31 minutes in penalties; Mississippi totaled 15 penalty minutes.

The two teams continue their pre-season schedule Sunday afternoon, October 10th at 3:05 PM at the DeSoto Civic Center in Southaven. Tickets remain available, call the RiverKings offices for more information, 662-342-1755 or online at www.riverkings.com.



Central Hockey League Stories from October 9, 2010


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