CHL Mississippi RiverKings

Game Day - RiverKings at Wichita

February 18, 2011 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Mississippi RiverKings News Release


SOUTHAVEN, MS --- The Mississippi RiverKings of the Central Hockey League (CHL) start a two-game road trip tonight against the Thunder in Wichita. Game time is 7:05 PM this evening at the INTRUST Bank Arena in Wichita. Broadcast coverage is on Sports 56, WHBQ-AM at 6:50 PM with veteran broadcaster Bob Bakken on the call. An Away Game Watch Party of the CHL-TV webcast will be shown at the Southaven Buffalo Wild Wings this evening at 7:00 PM. The location is north of Goodman Road on Airways Boulevard.

RIVERKINGS RECAP: Mississippi defeated the Evansville IceMen in the teams ‚¬â„¢ final meeting of the regular season Tuesday night at the DeSoto Civic Center in Southaven. The 4-3 shootout victory was the RiverKings ‚¬â„¢ second straight victory and marked the fourth straight time Mississippi has earned a standings point (2-0-2). Louis Dumont scored the RiverKings first goal to tie the game at 1-1 in the second period. Dumont netted his 14th goal and fifth shorthanded tally for the season nearly seven minutes into the middle session. Rusty Masters and Matt Summers also scored goals in the game; Masters scoring his first goal with the RiverKings with 2:26 remaining in the second period, and Summers giving Mississippi a 3-2 lead in the third period with his team-leading 18th goal of the season with 9:20 remaining. Mississippi outscored the IceMen 3-1 in the shootout period, with Chris Richards, Summers, and Masters scoring goals.& nbsp; Alexander Pechurskiy made 35 saves in moving his season record to 12-9-1 for the season.

RIVERKINGS SPECIAL TEAMS: In Tuesday ‚¬â„¢s win over Evansville, the RiverKings were 0-for-6 on the power play. Mississippi is 11.5% on the power play in the team ‚¬â„¢s last five games and for the season ranks 13th in the CHL on the power play at 16.45%. On the penalty kill, the RiverKings allowed one extra man goal in two Evansville chances Tuesday night, the second straight game for opponents to score a power play goal against Mississippi. In the team ‚¬â„¢s last five games, the RiverKings are 82.6% on the penalty kill and for the season ranks seventh on the PK at 83.8%. Mississippi leads the CHL in shorthanded goals scored with 14 and has allowed nine this season. The RiverKings scored a shorthanded goal from Louis Dumont in Tuesday ‚¬â„¢s game, his league-leading fifth of the season.

SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES: Against Wichita, the RiverKings have scored four power play goals in 17 chances with one shorthanded goal, a power play percentage of 23.5%. Mississippi is 2-for-20 on the penalty kill for a success rate of 90.0%.

PLAYER NOTES:

Chris Auger ranks first among CHL rookies for shorthanded goals scored with three. Auger is also tied for third among first-year players for plus-minus by a rookie at +9.

Matt Boyd has moved into second place in the CHL for shorthanded assists by a rookie with two.

Louis Dumont leads the CHL in shorthanded goals with five. He has scored two SHG ‚¬â„¢s in Mississippi ‚¬â„¢s last six games.

Derek Landmesser leads CHL defensemen in power play assists with 16.

Nathan Lutz ranks fourth in the CHL for power play assists with 20, a number that leads all CHL defensemen. Lutz is tied for the league lead in points by a defenseman with 42. He leads league blue liners in assists with 32 and leads the RiverKings in points on the road at six goals for 21 points.

Alexander Pechurskiy is tenth in the CHL for goals-against-average at 2.73.

Brennan Sarazin is fifth in the CHL for shooting percentage at ..219 (7 goals, 32 shots).

Russell Smith has taken 28 penalty minutes in his last seven games, the league ‚¬â„¢s longest active streak of its type going. Smith is fourth in the CHL for minor penalties taken with 42. Smith ‚¬â„¢s 139 penalty minutes rank him third among CHL defensemen.

Matt Summers is tied for second in the CHL in power play goals scored with 11. Summers leads the RiverKings in scoring over the last five games with five points (two goals, three assists).

TEAM NOTES: Mississippi leads the CHL in penalty minutes at 1230 and penalty minutes per game at 24.60.....The RiverKings also lead the league in game misconducts (15) and is tied for the league lead in match penalties (1).....The RiverKings have a 2-0-2 record when tied after two periods on the road and are 6-2-2 when ahead after forty minutes, however Mississippi is winless when trailing after two periods away from home at 0-10-0.....The RiverKings have not lost in regulation in its last four games, a streak dating back to February 11th.....Mississippi ‚¬â„¢s 16 home wins are tied with Allen for the most in the CHL but their eight road wins are tied for the fewest in the league.

MISSISSIPPI VS. WICHITA: Tonight ‚¬â„¢s game is the fourth of the season series with the Thunder, with the RiverKings leading the season series 3-0-0 and the overall series 66-43-15. Mississippi has not lost to the Thunder since December 6th, 2009, when Wichita defeated the RiverKings 5-4 in a shootout at the DeSoto Civic Center. Mississippi has not lost in the INTRUST Bank Arena since the Thunder moved to the downtown building last season. The teams meet two more times this season, on March 11th, and again in the regular season finale March 27th, both in Wichita. Matt Summers leads Mississippi in points with five and in goals with four. Summers has also scored a team-leading two power play goals against Wichita. Chris Richards is the RiverKings ‚¬â„¢ leader in assists against Wichita with four. R.G. Flath and Dane Marshall are both +4 in games against the Thunder. Milan Maslonka has taken the most penalty minutes vs. Wichita with 17. Jeff Christian has scored Mississippi ‚¬â„¢s only shorthanded goals against the Thunder this year. Flath, Louis Dumont, and Patrik Levesque has scored game-winning goals in the season series. At the goal line, Alexander Pechurskiy has a 2-0-0 record against the Thunder, a goals-against-average of 0.96, and a save percentage of .965. Larry Sterling has a record of 1-0-0 against Wichita, a goals-against-average of 1.00, and a save percentage of .971.

MISSISSIPPI VS. TURNER CONFERENCE: The RiverKings enter tonight ‚¬â„¢s game with a 17-11-2 record against the Turner Conference and is 2-0-1 in its last three games against teams from the northern half of the CHL.

LOOKING FOR THE ELUSIVE NUMBER THREE: The RiverKings look to win three straight games for the first time this season tonight. The RiverKings have won back-to-back games seven times this season but have yet to manage three straight victories.

RIVERKINGS STATISTICAL LEADERS:

GOALS: Matt Summers (19)

ASSISTS: Nathan Lutz (32)

POINTS: Chris Richards (44)

PLUS-MINUS: Derek Landmesser (+12)

PENALTY MINUTES: Russell Smith (139)

POWER PLAY GOALS: Summers (11)

SHORTHANDED GOALS: Louis Dumont (5)

GAME-WINNING GOALS: R.G. Flath (4)

RIVERKINGS GOALTENDING LEADERS:

GAMES PLAYED: Alexander Pechurskiy, Larry Sterling (25)

MINUTES PLAYED: Sterling (1394)

WINS: Alexander Pechurskiy (12)

SHUTOUTS: Sterling (2)

GOALS-AGAINST-AVERAGE: Pechurskiy (2.73)

SAVE PERCENTAGE: Pechurskiy (.900)

UP NEXT: The RiverKings travel to Loveland, Colorado to play the Eagles tomorrow night at 8:05 PM Central time. Broadcast coverage is on Sports 56, WHBQ-AM and CHL-TV at 7:50 PM Central time. Next home action for the RiverKings will be February 25th in the start of a two-game home series with the Tulsa Oilers at Southaven's DeSoto Civic Center, beginning at 7:05 PM.

TICKETS: For RiverKings ticket information, call 662-342-1755 or go online to www.riverkings.com today!



Central Hockey League Stories from February 18, 2011


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