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Mississippi RiverKings

RiverKings Weekly

January 31, 2011 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Mississippi RiverKings News Release


SOUTHAVEN, MS --- The Mississippi RiverKings of the Central Hockey League play games seven and eight of their season-long nine-game home stand this week, hosting Berry Conference rival Tulsa in contests Friday and Saturday nights at the DeSoto Civic Center in Southaven. Game time both nights is 7:05 PM. Saturday's game is Southland Park Gaming and Racing/Mid-South Greyhound Adoption Option night with special night jerseys being worn. The game-worn jerseys will be auctioned off to the highest bidder at the end of the game. Post-game skates will also be held after each game this weekend. Friday will be the first time Tulsa has appeared at the DeSoto Civic Center since a 4-1 RiverKings victory on November 6th. Mississippi's last meeting with the Oilers was at the BOK Center December 3rd, when the Oilers prevailed 5-4 in a shootout.

RIVERKINGS RECAP: Mississippi finished 1-1-1 for the week against the Bloomington PrairieThunder this past week, losing 5-4 in last Tuesday morning's Face Off Field Trip game before a full-house of Mid-South youngsters for Face Off Field Trip, then defeated the PrairieThunder 5-0 in Friday's second game of the series, only to fall in overtime Saturday night to Bloomington 4-3. Mississippi's season record is now 21-20-2 for 44 points and fifth place in the CHL Berry Conference standings.

RIVERKINGS STATISTICAL LEADERS:

GOALS: Matt Summers (17)

ASSISTS: Nathan Lutz (29)

POINTS: Chris Richards (40)

PLUS-MINUS: Derek Landmesser (+10)

PENALTY MINUTES: Darrell Stoddard (125)

POWER PLAY GOALS: Summers (10)

SHORTHANDED GOALS: Louis Dumont (4)

GAME-WINNING GOALS: Jeff Christian, R.G. Flath, Patrik Levesque (3)

RIVERKINGS GOALTENDING LEADERS:

GAMES PLAYED: Larry Sterling (22)

MINUTES PLAYED: Sterling (1210)

WINS: Sterling, Pechurskiy (10)

SHUTOUTS: Sterling (2)

GOALS-AGAINST-AVERAGE: Pechurskiy (2.74)

SAVE PERCENTAGE: Pechurskiy (.898)

LAST FIVE GAME STAT LEADERS:

GOALS: Chris Richards, Chris Auger (3)

ASSISTS: Nathan Lutz (4)

POINTS: Richards (6)

PLUS-MINUS: Andrew Lackner (+6)

PENALTY MINUTES: Darrell Stoddard (24)

POWER PLAY GOALS: Patrik Levesque, Auger, Stoddard (1)

SHORTHANDED GOALS: Auger, Louis Dumont (1)

GAME-WINNING GOALS: Levesque, Lackner (1)

GOALIE GAMES PLAYED: Larry Sterling (4)

GOALIE MINUTES PLAYED: Sterling (240)

GOALIE WINS: Sterling (2)

GOALS-AGAINST-AVERAGE: Pechurskiy (2.02)

SAVE PERCENTAGE: Pechurskiy (.905)

RIVERKINGS STAT LEADERS vs. TULSA

GOALS: Patrik Levesque (2)

ASSISTS: Louis Dumont (3)

POINTS: Dumont (4)

PLUS-MINUS: Levesque (+2)

PENALTY MINUTES: Russell Smith (14)

POWER PLAY GOALS: Smith, Chris Richards (1)

SHORTHANDED GOALS: (none)

GAME-WINNING GOALS: Richards (1)

GOALIE GAMES PLAYED: Larry Sterling (2)

GOALIE MINUTES PLAYED: Sterling, (125)

GOALIE WINS: Pechurskiy, Sterling (1)

GOALS-AGAINST-AVERAGE: Pechurskiy (2.40)

SAVE PERCENTAGE: Pechurskiy (.931)

RIVERKINGS SPECIAL TEAMS: Mississippi enters the week ranked 12th in the on the power play at 16.67% (41-for-246) and is ranked eighth in the CHL on the penalty kill at 83.2% (41-for-244). The RiverKings are tied for the league lead in shorthanded goals scored with 11 and have allowed eight shorthanded goals this year. Mississippi has scored a power play goal in each of its last three games and Saturday night was the first time in four games the RiverKings had allowed an opponent to score on the power play.

STERLING NEARS RECORD TERRITORY: Saturday night's shutout effort by RiverKings goaltender Larry Sterling moved him to within one of tying the team record for shutouts by a goaltender in one season at three. It equals the two shutouts Sterling fashioned in his 2006-07 season with the RiverKings. Three Mississippi/Memphis goaltenders have earned three shutouts in one year; the last to do it was Kevin Beech in the 2008-09 campaign. In his five CHL seasons, Sterling has collected seven shutouts, five of which have come with the RiverKings and two with Fort Worth. Before last night, Sterling's last shutout effort came exactly two weeks prior, in a 3-0 win at Missouri on January 14th.

PLAYER NOTES: Saturday night's goal by forward Patrik Levesque gives him two goals and three points in his last two games. Levesque's nine penalty minutes Saturday night were the most he's taken in one game since chalking up 22 against Bossier-Shreveport on January 22nd, a season high for him with the RiverKings. Russell Smith will play in his 200th career professional game Friday night against the Oilers. 54 of that total has come in the Central Hockey League, including 43 this season in Mississippi. An assist by defenseman Dane Marshall Saturday gives him an assist in each of his last two appearances. Marshall has assisted on goals in four of his last eight games the first of which came January 15th at Evansville. Prior to that, Marshall had not appeared on the scoresheet since an assist on December 11th against Dayton. A power play goal by Matt Summers Saturday night gives hi m 11 for the season and the league lead for power play goals. Summers has scored twice and has three points in his last two games. He's also scored four points (3 goals, 1 assist) in his last four appearances. Forward R.G. Flath is expected to play in his 200th career professional and CHL game Saturday against the Oilers. 43 of that total have come in Mississippi this season. Chris Auger has five points (3 goals, 2 assists) in his last five appearances. He was kept off the scoresheet in Friday's win against Bloomington, but has scored points in the other four of his last five games. Auger leads the CHL rookies in shorthanded goals scored with three. Defenseman Nathan Lutz has earned assists (a total of four) in three of his last four games, despite being kept off the box score on Friday vs. Bloomington. Lutz leads the league in defenseman points (38), assists (29), and power play assists (16). Loui s Dumont enters the week in a four-way tie for the CHL lead in shorthanded goals with four. Defenseman Derek Landmesser has moved into a three-way tie for third for defenseman power play assists at 13. Goaltender Larry Sterling is 38 saves short of 4,000 career stops in CHL games, and nine short of 1900 career saves in a RiverKings' sweater.

TEAM NOTES: Mississippi is 6-5-1 in Friday night games and 9-5-1 in games played on Saturday. Saturday was the first time the RiverKings had suffered an overtime loss this season and the team is 1-0-1 in overtime games this year. In shootouts, the RiverKings are 2-0-1 with the only shootout loss coming against Tulsa on December 3rd (5-4 at Tulsa). Mississippi is a perfect 8-0-0 in home games when they lead after two periods. Mississippi is second in the CHL for killing penalties at home at 87.8%, trailing only Quad City. Seven of the RiverKings 11 shorthanded goals have come in home contests this season. Mississippi is tied with Odessa for the CHL lead in shorthanded goals.

BROADCASTS: Friday's RiverKings series opener against Tulsa at the DeSoto Civic Center in Southaven will be aired on Sports 56, WHBQ-AM, the flagship radio station for RiverKings hockey and on www.sports56whbq.com. Saturday's game will be aired on 87.7 FM "The Pig," WPGF, and www.radiopig.com. Air time both nights is 6:50 PM with Media Coordinator and veteran broadcaster Bob Bakken on the call. RiverKings hockey is also available on CHL-TV, click the Watch Live link on the team web site for more information.

TICKETS: For RiverKings ticket information, call 662-342-1755 or go online to www.riverkings.com today!

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