CHL Kansas City Mavericks

Mavericks Comeback Falls Short vs. Bees, 2-1

March 12, 2011 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Kansas City Mavericks News Release


HIDALGO, Texas - The Missouri Mavericks lost their third straight road game Saturday night, 2-1, to the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees at State Farm Arena. Bees' goaltender Jerad Kaufmann stopped 37 of the Mavericks' 38 shots and Missouri's third-period comeback fell short. Cole Ruwe scored the lone goal for the Mavericks in the third period, but Missouri couldn't score the equalizer and the Mavericks record fell to 32-21-6. Missouri heads home for a Playoff Launch Party on Monday, March 14 at 4:30 p.m. at Independence Square. The Mavs will then head to Bloomington to take on the PrairieThunder with third place on the line on Wednesday, March 16.

"Another big mistake on the penalty kill proved to be the difference tonight," said Mavericks' Head Coach Scott Hillman. "We had another good effort and we carried most of the play, but the Bees' goalie played well tonight and we didn't capitalize on our chances."

Rio Grande Valley took a 1-0 lead just over five minutes into the game on Brett Clouthier's shot from just outside the left circle. Brett Wilson and Dominic D'Amour assisted on the goal and the Killer Bees held the 1-0 lead going into the first intermission.

The Bees struck again just over five minutes into the second period when Zak McClellan connected on the power play. He was assisted by Tomas Klempa and Darcy Campbell. Missouri had their chances but couldn't get the puck past Kaufmann through the first 40 minutes of play.

In the third period, the Mavericks came out and pressured the Bees. Cole Ruwe finally connected for the Mavericks at the 8:59 mark of the period on assists from Mike Berry and Blake Forsyth. The Mavericks earned two more power plays in the third period, but they couldn't convert and the Bees held on for the 2-1 victory.

Missouri finished 0-for-4 on the power play and the Bees' power play goal was the difference as they finished 1-for-3 with the man-advantage. Missouri outshot the Killer Bees, 38-30. The three straight road losses mark a season-long road losing streak for the Mavericks. Missouri had gone 6-0-2 in their previous eight road games before the current streak of losses.

The Mavericks will return from south Texas for their Playoff Launch Party on Monday, March 14 before heading to Bloomington for a game on Wednesday, March 16 against the PrairieThunder. Missouri will return home for a four-game home stand where they will face the Wichita Thunder on March 18 and 19, the Mississippi RiverKings on March 20 and wrap up the home schedule against the Thunder on March 22.

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