CHL Mississippi RiverKings

RiverKings Battle the Bucks Tonight in Southaven

November 27, 2010 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Mississippi RiverKings News Release


SOUTHAVEN, MS --- The Mississippi RiverKings return home for tonight's Berry Conference matchup against the Laredo Bucks. Game time at the DeSoto Civic Center in Southaven is 7:05 PM.

RIVERKINGS RECAP: Nathan Lutz and Matt Miller scored goals, but that was all the offense mustered Thanksgiving night in a 7-2 defeat against the Oilers in Tulsa. Lutz's goal came after the Oiler had taken a 2-0 lead and came with 2:28 left in the first period. Miller's tally came nearly mid-way through the second period and made the score 4-2 in favor of Tulsa. Alexander Pechurskiy's record fell to 3-3-0 for the season after a 21-save, 6-goal effort. Mississippi out shot Tulsa 30-28 in the game. Neither team scored on the power play. The season record between the teams evened at 1-1-0 each through two games of the series. OPPOSING VIEWPOINT: Laredo, coached by Terry Ruskowski, comes to Mississippi for the only time this season, although the RiverKings play at Laredo twice this year on January 7th and 8th. The Bucks are coming off an overtime loss at Texas last night, 4-3. Jeff Bes, Daniel Koger, and Joe Scali scored the Laredo goals in the contest, and Pier Pelletier stopped 36 of 40 Brahmas' shots in the game. All-time, the RiverKings have a 6-8-1 record against Laredo, although Mississippi is on a two-game winning streak, having not lost to Laredo since the 2007-08 campaign. Laredo was one of two teams the RiverKings did not have on last season's schedule. RIVERKINGS POWER PLAY: Mississippi failed to score on the power play in Thursday's loss to Tulsa, the third time the RiverKings have been shut out with the extra man. In the last five contests, Mississippi is 4-for-28, and for the season, the RiverKings are ranked 11th in the CHL at 17.65%. RIVERKINGS PENALTY KILL: Tulsa did not score on the power play in their victory over the RiverKings last night, the third time in the last five games opponents have not netted a power play goal. In the last five, Mississippi is 4-for-25 on the penalty kill and for the season, the RiverKings rank seventh on the PK at 83.00% success. At home, Mississippi scores power play goals 20.4% of the time. SHOTS IN THE DARK: Mississippi out shot the Oilers 30-26 Thursday night in Tulsa, the 12th time this season that the RiverKings have out shot its opponents. Mississippi ranks tenth in shots taken per game at 31.31 and is fourth in the league for shots allowed at 28.88 per contest. The RiverKings are tied for third in the CHL for penalty kill success in home games at 85.7%. LUTZ LEADING THE WAY: Defenseman Nathan Lutz remains the RiverKings' leading scorer with six goals and 16 points. A total of 12 points (4 goals, 8 assists) have come in the RiverKings last ten games. Four goals have come on the power play (tied for the CHL lead for PPG's by a defenseman), one is a game-winner, and one goal was scored unassisted. Lutz has scored three goals in his last three games, which is the third-longest active goal-scoring streak in the CHL. Lutz ranks second among CHL defensemen for points, is tied for the league lead for goals scored by a defenseman, and is fifth for blue line assists. With his six goals and ten assists, he has equaled in 15 games his entire season total last year in Italy in 40 appearances. LET ME HELP: Forward Jeff Christian ranks second in the CHL for power play assists with nine. A MAJOR SCUFFLE: Two RiverKings rank among the top five in the CHL for major penalties. Darrell Stoddard is second with eight and Tyler Sheldrake (on the injured reserve) is tied for third with seven.

HOT SHOOTING SUMMERS: Forward Matt Summers is among the league leaders for shooting accuracy. Summers is tied for third place in shooting percentage at .250 (6 goals, 24 shots).

THAT'S A FOUL ON YOU: Mississippi leads the Central Hockey League for penalty minutes taken with 543 and also leads the CHL in other penalty categories. They include majors (31), game misconducts (11), match penalties (1), and the RiverKings are tied for the league lead in ten-minute misconducts (4). Mississippi's penalty minute average of 33.94 also leads the CHL. NOT BEING BERRY SUCCESSFUL: The RiverKings look for their third win against Berry Conference opponents tonight as they enter the contest with a 2-4-0 conference record. Mississippi is 5-5-0 against Turner Conference opposition this season. Thursday's game at Tulsa was the RiverKings' first Berry Conference matchup since its 4-1 home win against the Oilers on November 6th. PRETENDING WE'RE ON THE ROAD: The RiverKings will seek to stop a two-game non-winning streak in home games tonight against the Bucks. Mississippi has not won at home since a 4-1 victory over Tulsa on November 6th. The two straight home losses is tied for the longest active home losing streak in the CHL. NOTABLES: Chris Richards is one short of 300 career professional goals. Jeff Christian is two short of 300 career CHL assists. Darrell Stoddard is five short of 300 career professional games played. Brennan Sarazin earned his first CHL point with an assist in Thursday's loss at Tulsa.

FRIDAY NIGHT CHL SCOREBOARD: Fort Wayne 4, Evansville 2; Bossier-Shreveport 6, Tulsa 2; Missouri 5, Rio Grande Valley 4; Bloomington 4, Quad City 3; Odessa 8, Rapid City 0; Arizona 5, Allen 1; Colorado 7, Wichita 5; Texas 4, Laredo 3 (overtime)

SATURDAY NIGHT CHL SCHEDULE: Bloomington at Dayton, Quad City at Fort Wayne, Colorado at Wichita, Laredo at Mississippi, Rio Grande Valley at Missouri, Bossier-Shreveport at Texas, Tulsa at Evansville, Allen at Arizona, Odessa at Rapid City.

OFFICIALLY SPEAKING: Tonight's referee is Steve Cruickshank, with linesmen Michael Johnstone and Cory Piche

RIVERKINGS RADIO/WEBCAST: Tonight's game is being broadcast on WPGF-FM 87.7 "The Pig," with veteran broadcaster and RiverKings Media Coordinator Bob Bakken on the call. Tonight's game is being audio streamed at www.radiopig.com and the video webcast is available on CHL-TV (chltv.neulion.com/chltv). NOTE: Tomorrow's game from Bossier-Shreveport will be aired on Sports 56, WHBQ-AM at 3:50 PM. The audio stream of the broadcast will be available on www.sports56whbq.com.

TICKETS: RiverKings ticket flex-packs make a great stocking stuffer this Christmas. In eight-and-16 voucher amounts, flex-packs give you the flexibility to choose the games you want to see and still save money. For more information, see a RiverKings ticket representative on the concourse, or call 662-342-1755.



Central Hockey League Stories from November 27, 2010


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