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CHL Mississippi RiverKings

RiverKings - Bossier-Shreveport Preview

March 7, 2009 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Mississippi RiverKings News Release


The Last Time Out...Friday, March 6th, 2009 - RiverKings 5, at Tulsa 4

Martin Gascon scored two goals and he and Dallas Steward each had three points in Mississippi's tenth straight victory, a 5-4 decision at Tulsa on Friday night. Kevin Beech set a team record for goaltender victories in one season with his 32nd win between the pipes and eighth straight victory with a 23-save effort. Tulsa opened the scoring with a pair of goals in the first 6:29 of the game, but the RiverKings scored three times to take a 3-2 lead after twenty minutes. Mississippi added a goal in the second period, as Gascon scored his second of the night, but it was David Simoes' power play goal at 8:23 of the final frame that became the eventual game-winning score. Tulsa scored twice after the mid-point of the third period to get within one, but the last goal came with 12 seconds remaining for the final result. Mississippi out shot the Oilers be a 36-27 margin as the RiverKings won its fifth game out of six tries against Tulsa for the regular season.

Saturday's Match-up:

Mississippi at Bossier-Shreveport (CenturyTel Center, Bossier City, LA - 7:05 PM)

Tonight's game is the eighth contest in a 12-game series between the Northeast Division rivals, with Bossier-Shreveport leading the series with a 5-2-0 record for ten points. The RiverKings are 2-5-0 for four points this season.

Mississippi won the last contest in Bossier-Shreveport, 4-1 on Tuesday night. After tonight, the teams have a two-game set at the DeSoto Civic Center in Southaven on Friday, March 13 and Saturday, March 14. Games both nights start at 7:05 PM.

Garrett Larson is the Mississippi leader against Bossier-Shreveport with seven points in seven games. Bobby Chaumont has scored four times against the Mudbugs, while Larson has six assists. Matt Summers is plus-four in games against Bossier-Shreveport, while Adam Smyth has 37 penalty minutes in games against the Mudbugs. Jeff Nelson and Andrew Lackner each have two power play goals against Bossier-Shreveport and Louis Dumont has two shorthanded goals.

In the crease, Kevin Beech is 2-3-0 against Bossier-Shreveport with a 2.61 goals-against-average and a save percentage of .876.

Mississippi is 16.7% on the power play (9-of-54) and eight of the RiverKings' 21 goals scored have come in the third period.

Win Streak Now At Ten Straight

Mississippi has reached its longest winning streak of the season at ten straight victories with its win last night at Tulsa, which is also the longest active winning streak of the year in the Central Hockey League and one short of Odessa's 11-game winning streak between November 22nd and December 20th. Seven of the ten wins have come on the road, while only three of the nine victories have been at the DeSoto Civic Center. Last year's RiverKings team won five straight on two occasions, but paled in comparison to a 10-game winning streak fashioned by the 2006-07 RiverKings between December 29th, 2006 and January 23rd, 2007. Two victories in that streak came in shutout form and the victories included a pair of wins against Youngstown, two against Odessa, a pair against Tulsa, and one each against Colorado, Corpus Christi, Bossier-Shreveport, and Oklahoma City (1/5/07). The RiverKings' team record winning streak is 12 straight games, set between January 23rd and February 22nd, 2002.

We Get A Point, Again!

As impressive as the winning streak may be, the RiverKings are also continuing a string of 16 straight games where they have achieved at least one standings point (14-0-2 for 30 points). The last regulation time loss for Mississippi came on January 27th, when Mississippi lost at home against Bossier-Shreveport 2-1 on "Face-Off Field Trip" Tuesday morning. Since then, the RiverKings have suffered an overtime loss at Texas and a shootout loss against Rocky Mountain to mar the current streak, but gained a standing point both times in the process. The 14-0-2 skein includes the team's largest one-game goal-scoring output of the season against Wichita (9-2, February 3rd) and a shutout of Rapid City on January 31st, (4-0). It is both the longest active non-loss streak of the season and for the entire regular season.

Beech Breaks Wins Record

Last night, RiverKings goaltender Kevin Beech set a team record with his 32nd victory of the season in the 5-4 win against Tulsa. Beech is now 32-10-3 for the season. He moved beyond Larry Sterling's 31 victories in the 2006-07 campaign. The team record for career goaltending victories belongs to Jean-Francois Racine, who won 46 games at the crease with the RiverKings in 2002-03, 2003-04, and 2004-05.

Please To Note

Garrett Larson plays in his 200th career professional game tonight against Bossier-Shreveport. He is two goals away from 100 career professional goals scored.

Kevin Kaminski coaches his 450th career professional game this evening.

Up Next

The RiverKings complete their three-game road weekend tomorrow afternoon in Odessa, meeting the Jackalopes in a 4:05 PM Central Daylight Time match up at the Ector County Coliseum. Mississippi has won both previous games against Odessa, including a 6-4 decision in the last meeting on February 24th in Texas.

Broadcasts

Tonight's game from Bossier-Shreveport will be heard on 96.1 FM, WIVG-FM "The Pig." Bob Bakken has the play-by-play coverage, starting with the pre-game report at 6:50 PM. Tomorrow's game from Odessa will be on Sports 56, WHBQ-AM, beginning at 3:50 PM.

Tickets

RiverKings season and group tickets, fundraiser programs, and more are available by contacting the RiverKings' front office at 662-342-1755 or by e-mail at tickets@riverkings.com. New season ticket packages for the 2009-2010 season are now available for sale through the RiverKings offices or by calling the front office. Single game tickets for RiverKings hockey are available through the DeSoto Civic Center box office, or by contacting Ticketmaster.

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