CHL Kansas City Mavericks

Mavericks Win Sixth Straight to Open Season

November 4, 2011 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Kansas City Mavericks News Release


WICHITA, Kansas - The Missouri Mavericks broke a franchise record by winning their sixth straight game in a 4-2 victory over the Wichita Thunder Friday night at INTRUST Bank Arena. Mavericks' goaltender Gerry Festa stopped 37 of 39 shots for his second win of the season, and Mavericks' captain Sebastien Thinel had a goal and two assists. The Mavericks (6-0-0) are now the only undefeated team remaining Central Hockey League (CHL) and all six wins have been on the road. Missouri will host the Thunder Saturday night at Independence Events Center at 7:05 p.m. in the Mavericks' home opener.

"We're ready to be back at home, I know our guys are excited to be back," said Mavericks' Head Coach Scott Hillman. "It was a great performance tonight by (Gerry) Festa. We had a big power play goal in the third period that was the difference maker. The shot chart wasn't pretty, but our special teams made the difference. We also hope to get a couple of our top players back in the lineup soon."

The Mavericks took a 2-0 lead after the first period despite being outshot by the Thunder 11-5. Vern Cooper scored his second goal of the season on assists from Thinel and Andrew Courtney at the 10:38 mark of the period. Just 31 seconds later, Mavericks' defenseman David Pszenyczny scored his first goal of the season when he banged home a rebound off a Dale Mahovsky shot. The assist for Mahovsky extended his scoring streak to six games.

Wichita came at the Mavericks in the second period and put a total of 21 shots on net, but only one of those shots got past Festa. Thomas Beauregard scored 57 seconds into the period on assists from Matt Summers and Andrew Martens. It proved to be the only goal of the period and Wichita again outshot the Mavericks by a total of 21-5.

Brandon Coccimiglio gave the Mavericks a 3-1 lead at 5:40 of the third period on the only power play goal of the game. Defenseman Cole Ruwe fed Thinel who made a nice centering pass to Coccimiglio and he scored his team-leading fourth goal of the season. The Thunder quickly answered and made it a 3-2 game on a goal by Daniel Tetrault at the 7:04 mark, but it proved to be the closest Wichita would get. Festa made some good saves late in the game to preserve the lead and Thinel closed the game out with an empty net goal. Thinel picked the pocket of a Wichita defenseman and easily put the puck in the open net with 47 seconds remaining in the game.

Wichita outshot the Mavericks 39-18 in the game but the Thunder finished 0-for-5 on the power play. Missouri was 1-for-4 on the power play. The six-game winning streak for the Mavericks is the longest streak in team history.

The Mavericks will try to extend their winning streak to seven games Saturday night in their home opener against the Thunder. Missouri plays home games at the state-of-the-art Independence Events Center where parking is always free. Tickets for all regular season games are on sale now via Ticketmaster. Call (816) 252-7825 for more information or visit www.MissouriMavericks.com .

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