
RiverKings clinch playoff spot with 3-1 win over FireAntz
March 14, 2015 - SPHL (SPHL)
Mississippi RiverKings News Release
Fayetteville, NC - The Mississippi RiverKings (30-18-2) clinched their ninth-straight playoff berth with a 3-1 win over the Fayetteville FireAntz (20-23-7) Saturday night at the Crown Coliseum.
Devin Mantha paced the RiverKings offensively in the first period, scoring twice in the first 20 minutes. He gave the RiverKings a 1-0 lead at 4:21 when he lifted a shot over the shoulder of Kevin Murdock. Matt Whitehead and Linden Bahm got assists on Mantha's 16th goal of the season. Just over a minute later the FireAntz tied the game at one with a power-play goal from Matt Robertson who blasted a one-timer from the right circle. Mantha put the RiverKings back ahead at 12:52 when he converted on a 2-on-1 with Matt Harrington. Harrington carried the puck down the left wing then fired a pass to Mantha, who beat Murdock for his second of the game and 17th of the season.
It was a 2-1 game until late in the second period, when Sean Jones buried a rebound with 1:19 to play in the middle stanza. Mike Hayward fired a shot from the right point, which created a rebound for near the crease. Harrington and Jones were there and Jones eventually slid it past Murdock for a 3-1 lead. During the second Adam Courchaine was banged up after making an acrobatic save along the goal line. He finished the period, but was replaced by Peter Di Salvo to start the third.
Di Salvo stopped all 11 shots he faced in the third to preserve for Courchaine, who stopped 21 of 22 shots in the first two periods.
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