CHL Kansas City Mavericks

Mavs Hold off Thunder, 5-3

March 22, 2011 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Kansas City Mavericks News Release


INDEPENDENCE, Missouri - The Missouri Mavericks clinched home-ice advantage in the first round of the 2011 CHL playoffs with a 5-3 victory over the Wichita Thunder Tuesday night at Independence Events Center. Ryan Jardine scored two goals for the Mavericks and Toby Lafrance added three assists in the victory. Nick Sirota extended his point streak to seven games with a goal and an assist.

Wichita drew first blood at the 2:19 mark of the first period. A.J. Gale took a centering pass from Brent Cullaton and put it in the back of the net to put Wichita up 1-0. Cullaton and Matt Robinson were given assists on the goal. The Thunder outshot the Mavericks 12-6 in the period.

The Mavericks evened up the score two minutes into the second period on a goal from Ryan Jardine. Toby Lafrance and Mike Wakita set up the score on two short passes to tie the game. Wichita regained the lead two minutes later on an unassisted goal from Troy Schwab. The Mavs stormed back to tie the game up on a power play goal from Nick Sirota at the 4:41 mark. Lafrance got his second assist of the game and Brandon Coccimiglio was given a helper on the goal as well. The goal extended Sirota's point streak to seven games and extended Coccimiglio's point streak to three games. Missouri took the lead five minutes later on Jardine's second goal of the evening. Lafrance collected his third assist of the game and Wakita was given his second assist of the night as well. The Mavs took a 3-2 lead into the second intermission and outshot the Thunder 15-9 in the period.

At the 8:14 mark of the third period, Mike Berry was hauled down from behind on a breakaway attempt and awarded a penalty shot. Berry snapped off a wrist shot that beat goaltender Marty Gelinas under his left arm and doubled the Mavericks' lead to 4-2. Wichita was quick to respond, bringing the score within one goal on a score by Dustin Donaghy just one minute after the Berry penalty shot. Assists went to Schwab and Jesse Bennefield. Wichita pulled Gelinas with over two minutes to play in the game and Todd Griffith took advantage of the Thunder's risk and netted an empty net goal with 45 seconds left to seal the victory for the Mavs.

The Mavs finished the night one-for-four on the power play. Goaltender Robby Nolan made 33 saves on 36 shots in the winning effort. Wichita went one-for-three with man power advantages and Gelinas had 21 saves on 25 shots. With tonight's victory, the Mavs finished 4-5-2 against the Thunder this year. With a victory by the Bloomington PrairieThunder, the Mavs remain deadlocked in a third place tie in the Turner Conference race, but gained a point on the idle Rapid City Rush and trail them by just two points for the Conference's second spot.

With a guaranteed spot in the Turner Conference's top four, the Mavericks will play Playoff Game "A" on April 1 and Playoff Game "B" on April 2. The opponent for the first round has not yet been determined. Faceoff for all playoff games will be 7:05pm. Playoff tickets are available through www.TicketMaster.com, calling the Mavericks' ticket office at (816) 252-7825 or by purchasing them at the Independence Events Center box office. Tickets start as low as $15.

The Mavericks will wrap up the regular season with two games in south Texas against the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees on Friday Night and Laredo Bucks on Saturday, March 26.

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Central Hockey League Stories from March 22, 2011


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