CHL Mississippi RiverKings

RiverKings Stop IceMen 5-2

Published on November 30, 2010 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Mississippi RiverKings News Release


SOUTHAVEN, MS --- The Mississippi RiverKings (9-10-0) bounced back from a weekend loss at Bossier-Shreveport and defeated the Evansville IceMen (8-9-1) by a score of 5-2 in a Central Hockey League game Tuesday night at Southaven. Chris Richards scored two goals, including his 300th career professional red-lighter, as Mississippi moved into a fourth place tie with Rio Grande Valley in the CHL Berry Conference standings.

Mississippi got on the board first, just 1:10 into the contest, when Russell Smith's blast from the right side was tipped in by Milan Maslonka and found the back of the net. It was Maslonka's first RiverKings' goal and gave the RiverKings a 1-0 lead.

Evansville tied the game late in the first period on a power play tally from former RiverKing Jeff Nelson, his seventh of the year at 18:51, which knotted the contest at 1-1 after twenty minutes.

In the second period, Evansville took the early lead on an unassisted, shorthanded goal by Brian Bicek for a 2-1 lead at the 12:22 mark of the frame.

The RiverKings quickly answered with a power play goal from Richards at 13:07 to tie the game at 2-2. That goal became Richards' 300th career professional goal.

That started a string of four unanswered goals by the RiverKings to wrap up the victory. Maslonka scored his second of the season at 1:47 of the third period for a 3-2 lead, a red-lighter that would become the eventual game-winning goal.

Jeff Christian added a power play marker at 13:48 for a 4-2 lead and Richards' second goal of the night (on the power play) at 17:54 climaxed the night for the RiverKings.

Mississippi won the game despite being out shot 37-28 by the IceMen, including an 18-6 margin for Evansville in the second period.

Goaltender Larry Sterling claimed the win in the crease for the RiverKings with a 35-save effort, while Evansville's Matt Lundin took the loss with a 23-save performance.

Mississippi was 3-for-11 on the power play and stopped five of six power play chances by the IceMen.

Next up, the RiverKings travel to Tulsa for a game Friday night against the Oilers beginning at 7:35 PM. Saturday, Mississippi hosts Wichita in the team's second meeting of the season, the first between the long standing rivals at the DeSoto Civic Center. Game time is 7:05 PM.

Notables: Brian Ihnacak (pronounced INN-uh-check) signed a contract and played for the RiverKings for the first time in the game against Evansville. Ihnacak, who played for three professional teams in Slovakia last season, has spent time in the ECHL with Augusta and Elmira. His father and uncle were NHL players in their playing days. Forwards Darrell Stoddard and Brennan Sarazin were placed on the 10-day injured reserve list, dating back to November 28th.

RiverKings flex packs make a great holiday stocking stuffer. Give the gift of great hockey this holiday season and save money at the same time. For more information, call the RiverKings at 662-342-1755 today!

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Central Hockey League Stories from November 30, 2010


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central