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SPHL Mississippi RiverKings

Delisle Hat Trick Sparks 6-4 RiverKings Win

January 4, 2015 - SPHL (SPHL)
Mississippi RiverKings News Release


LAFAYETTE, La. - Dan Delisle scored his first professional hat trick and the Mississippi RiverKings (11-12-2) turned a 3-1 deficit into a 6-4 win against the Louisiana IceGators (12-10-3) Sunday afternoon at the Cajundome.

Mississippi raced out of the gates to a 1-0 lead just 57 seconds into the game. Matt Whitehead collected the puck down the right wing. He shoveled a pass across to Leo Thomas, who went down the left wing in front to beat Andrew Flemming for a 1-0 lead. That lead lasted for less than a minute before Luke Kasteel tied the game. The IceGators won a puck battle along the boards in the offensive zone and Kasteel took a slap shot that clanged in off the right post at 1:45.

The 1-1 tie lasted just 12 seconds in the second period before Louisiana grabbed its first lead. Matt Viola sent a pass from the left circle to the right circle, where Bret Peppler fired it past Peter Di Salvo for a 2-1 lead. About midway through the second Shawn McNeil was sprung on a breakaway and went to the backhand to just get the puck under the arm of Di Salvo, making it 3-1 at 9:25.

The RiverKings started a four-goal rally immediately after that. Just 28 seconds later Delisle rifled a bouncing puck from the slot into the back of the net to get back within one at 9:53. The RiverKings pulled even in the waning moments of the second with a power-play goal. Whitehead grabbed the puck at the left circle and send a puck in front, where it deflected in off of Sean Jones with 22 seconds remaining in the period, tying the game at three.

Mississippi got their second lead to start the third period. Bryon Paulazzo picked up the puck along the wall at the left circle before getting a shot on goal. Flemming made the save, but Delisle pounced on the rebound, went to the backhand, and tucked the puck in the near post, putting the RiverKings up 4-3 at 3:20. The RiverKings grabbed a two-goal lead with just over 10 minutes to play in regulation. After the IceGators came close to tying it on their end Jones ended up with the puck down the left wing. He snapped a wrist shot behind Flemming at 9:26 for a 5-3 advantage on his second goal of the game.

Louisiana tried to rally late in the third. Bret Peppler made it a one-goal game again with 2:32 left with a hard wrist shot between the circle. Di Salvo got a big piece of it, but it popped in and made it 5-4 RiverKings. With just over a minute to play Delisle iced the game with an empty-net goal to give him a hat trick and the RiverKings a 6-4 win.

Notes: Delisle's hat trick is his first as a pro and the first one for the RiverKings this season. He has four goals in the last two games... The RiverKings have won four straight games over the IceGators since Dec. 26 and they have five wins in their last six games overall, the best stretch of the season... Jones scored two goals for his first multi-goal game of the season. All three of his goals have been scored at the Cajundome (Dec. 27 and Jan. 4)... The RiverKings improved to 8-1-2 when scoring a power-play goal.

The RiverKings are back home Friday, Jan. 16 for Pups N' Pucks night. Fans can bring their dogs to the game for free by signing up at riverkings.com/pups. There will be a Weiner Dog race as well during the game, and fans can sign their dogs up at riverkings.com/pups. Single-game tickets can be purchased at riverkings.com/ticketmaster and groups of 15 or more get a discount, with group tickets starting at $8 per ticket, by calling the front office at 662-342-1755.



SPHL Stories from January 4, 2015


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