CHL Mississippi RiverKings

RiverKings Weekly

February 21, 2011 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Mississippi RiverKings News Release


SOUTHAVEN, MS --- RIVERKINGS RECAP: Mississippi was 1-2-0 for the week, winning Tuesday night at home against Evansville and falling in both weekend games at Wichita and Colorado, Friday and Saturday, respectively. Tuesday night, Matt Summers scored a goal and added the game-winner in the shootout for a 4-3 victory over the IceMen. Goaltender Alexander Pechurskiy stopped a personal season high 35 shots in posting his 12th victory of the season. Friday, Summers and Patrik Levesque netted goals, but the Wichita Thunder defeated the RiverKings 5-2 in their first win over Mississippi since December, 2009. Saturday, Colorado claimed a 5-1 victory over the RiverKings with Milan Maslonka scoring Mississippi ‚¬â„¢s only goal of the game.

THIS WEEK: Mississippi meets Tulsa for the final two times of the regular season, both at home in the DeSoto Civic Center in Southaven. Game time for both games is 7:05 PM.

RIVERKINGS SPECIAL TEAMS: In Saturday ‚¬â„¢s game at Colorado, the RiverKings failed to score in four power play opportunities, the third straight game for Mississippi ‚¬â„¢s power play to not find the red light. In the team ‚¬â„¢s last five games, Mississippi is 1-for-27 (3.70%) and for the season enters the week ranked 15th in the CHL at 15.82%. On the penalty kill, the RiverKings allowed one power play goal in six Colorado chances Saturday night, the third straight game for opponents to score at least one power play goal on the RiverKings. In the team ‚¬â„¢s last five games, Mississippi is 4-for-22 (81.81%) on the penalty kill and for the year starts the week ranked sixth on the PK at 83.51%.

DUMONT HITS 1,100: When he steps on the ice for the first time Friday evening, RiverKings forward Louis Dumont will be playing in his 1,100th career professional game, 305 of which have come in five seasons with the RiverKings ‚¬â„¢ franchise. Over his pro career which started in 1994, Dumont has scored 424 goals, earned 749 assists, and has 1173 career professional points. Added to that, Dumont has 29 goals and 90 points in 114 career professional playoff games. With the RiverKings, Dumont has scored 98 goals for 275 points, and has scored eight goals for 31 points in 36 playoff meetings. This season, Dumont is third on the roster with 43 points, and leads the league in shorthanded goals scored with five and has also scored three shootout goals.

OTHER PLAYER NOTES:

Chris Auger starts the week leading CHL rookies for shorthanded goals with three. Auger is also tied for third in the league for plus-minus by a rookie at +9.

Matt Boyd ranks second in shorthanded assists by a rookie with two.

Nathan Lutz starts the week tied for third in the CHL (and leads all defensemen) for power play assists with 21. Lutz is tied for second in the CHL for points by a defenseman with 43 and is tied for the league lead in assists by a defenseman with 33.

Milan Maslonka reached a personal pro career high for goals in a season with his goal at Colorado Saturday night with four. Maslonka scored three times in 56 games of the 2007-08 season with the now-defunct Youngstown SteelHounds of the CHL.

Alexander Pechurskiy tops the team ‚¬â„¢s goaltenders over the last ten games in wins (2), goals-against-average (3.10), and save percentage (.895).

Russell Smith enters the week third in the CHL (and leading all defensemen) for penalty minutes with 175. Smith ranks fourth in the league for minor penalties taken with 45. He has taken 64 penalty minutes in the last nine appearances, the longest active streak of its type in the CHL and fourth longest for the entire season.

Larry Sterling tops the RiverKings ‚¬â„¢ net minders in goals-against-average (3.00) and save percentage (.914) in the team ‚¬â„¢s last five contests.

Matt Summers has been the RiverKings ‚¬â„¢ most productive offensive player over the team ‚¬â„¢s last five games with three goals and seven points.

TEAM NOTES: The RiverKings continue to lead the Central Hockey League for penalty minutes taken with 1282.....Mississippi is tied with Arizona for the most major penalties taken with 60.....The RiverKings also lead the CHL in game misconduct penalties with 16 and is tied for the most match penalties at one......The RiverKings ‚¬â„¢ 25.65 penalty minute per game average also leads the Central Hockey League.....Mississippi leads the CHL in shorthanded goals scored with 14, a league-leading nine of which have come at home.....The RiverKings have a 16-10-1 record in home games this year and have outscored the opposition in those games by an 86-66 margin.....Mississippi is 16-7-1 when scoring the first goal.....The RiverKings are 10-0-0 when ahead after two periods at home, but are 3-6-0 in home games when trailing after forty minutes.....Mississippi is 8-2-0 in home games decided by three or mo re goals.

MISSISSIPPI VS. TULSA: The RiverKings have a 2-2-2 record for six points against the Oilers entering Friday ‚¬â„¢s game. Three of the games have gone to overtime or a shootout, with Tulsa winning two of those games. The Oilers won a 12-round shootout in Tulsa 5-4 on December 3rd. The RiverKings claimed a 4-3 overtime victory on February 4th in Southaven, and the Oilers took a 4-3 overtime win in the teams ‚¬â„¢ last meeting in Tulsa on February 12th. The final meeting of the regular season series between the RiverKings and Oilers will be tomorrow night in Southaven. Louis Dumont is the RiverKings ‚¬â„¢ leading scorer against Tulsa with eight points, including a team-leading five assists. Derek Landmesser also has five assists in games against Tulsa this season, and Dumont is tied with Patrik Levesque for the team lead in goals scored against Tulsa. Five separate players have scored power play goals against the Oilers in the season series and Chris Richards and Chris Auger have the two game-winning goals. Russell Smith leads the RiverKings in penalty minutes against Tulsa with 27. Both goaltenders Alexander Pechurskiy and Larry Sterling have 1-1-1 records against Tulsa, with Sterling claiming the better goals-against-average at 3.25 and the better save percentage at .892. Ten of the RiverKings 20 goals scored against Tulsa have come in the first period.

MISSISSIPPI VS. BERRY CONFERENCE: The RiverKings have a record of 7-11-2 against the Berry Conference entering Friday ‚¬â„¢s game against Tulsa. The RiverKings ‚¬â„¢ last win against a Berry Conference team came on Friday, February 4th against the Oilers in the 4-3 overtime victory at the DeSoto Civic Center in Southaven. The next night, Mississippi suffered its last loss to a Berry Conference team in the Oilers ‚¬â„¢ 5-3 victory at the DCC. Despite a losing record, the RiverKings have had the most success in Berry Conference play against Bossier-Shreveport (3-6-0).

RIVERKINGS STATISTICAL LEADERS:

GOALS: Matt Summers (20)

ASSISTS: Nathan Lutz (33)

POINTS: Chris Richards (44)

PLUS-MINUS: Derek Landmesser (+11)

PENALTY MINUTES: Russell Smith (175)

POWER PLAY GOALS: Summers (11)

SHORTHANDED GOALS: Louis Dumont (5)

GAME-WINNING GOALS: R.G. Flath (4)

RIVERKINGS GOALTENDING LEADERS:

GAMES PLAYED: Alexander Pechurskiy, Larry Sterling (26)

MINUTES PLAYED: Sterling (1454)

WINS: Pechurskiy (12)

SHUTOUTS: Sterling (2)

GOALS-AGAINST-AVERAGE: Pechurskiy (2.82)

SAVE PERCENTAGE: Pechurskiy (.898)

BROADCAST COVERAGE: Both games this weekend will be heard on Sports 56, WHBQ-AM, with pre-game coverage beginning at 6:50 PM. Veteran broadcaster Bob Bakken provides the action both home and away for RiverKings hockey. Both games will also be available through the CHL-TV webcasting service reached through the "Watch Live" link on the RiverKings home page.

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



Central Hockey League Stories from February 21, 2011


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