CHL Mississippi RiverKings

RiverKings Weekly

March 14, 2011 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Mississippi RiverKings News Release


SOUTHAVEN, MS --- The Mississippi RiverKings finished last week schedule with a 2-1-0 record and will bring a 27-28-5 overall record into this week ‚¬â„¢s trio of games, two at home and one on the road. The RiverKings are in fifth place in the Central Hockey League ‚¬â„¢s Berry Conference standings entering the week, six points behind fourth place Tulsa and one point ahead of sixth place Odessa.

Thursday, the RiverKings defeated the Dayton Gems in Southaven 3-2 in a shootout. Matt Summers led the offense with a goal and an assist and also scored in the shootout. Derek Landmesser scored the eventual game-winning goal in the eighth round of the shootout. Goaltender Alexander Pechurskiy made 26 saves in the victory. Friday, Wichita defeated Mississippi 5-2 in Wichita, with Chris Auger and Chris Richards scoring goals and Pechurskiy stopping a season-high 38 shots in net. Saturday, the RiverKings bounced back in Quad City with a 4-2 victory, as Summers and Brennan Sarazin each scored two goals and Pechurskiy made 37 saves.

MISSISSIPPI VS. TEXAS: Friday and Saturday ‚¬â„¢s games will mark the only meetings of the season for the Berry Conference rivals. The Brahmas are currently third in the conference race, two points behind second-place Bossier-Shreveport and two points ahead of fourth place Tulsa. Last season, Mississippi won all four meetings against Texas, with two games won in shootouts. Of players on this year ‚¬â„¢s RiverKings roster, Dane Marshall and Derek Landmesser each scored a goal and added three assists in games against the Brahmas last season. All time, the RiverKings ‚¬â„¢ franchise has a 27-16-2 record against the Brahmas ‚¬â„¢ (Fort Worth/Texas) franchise, dating back to the 2001-02 season.

MISSISSIPPI VS. MISSOURI: Sunday ‚¬â„¢s game in Missouri will mark the fifth and final meeting of the season between the RiverKings and Mavericks. Mississippi (3-1-0) has won three of the previous four, with Missouri ‚¬â„¢s only victory coming in the last meeting in Southaven on February 8th (1-0). Darrell Stoddard, Nathan Lutz and Louis Dumont each have scored four points in games against the Mavericks, with Stoddard and Lutz each scoring two goals. In net, Larry Sterling has a 2-0-0 record against Missouri and Alexander Pechurskiy is 0-1-0. Mississippi is 4-for-29 (13.8%) against the Mavericks and six of the team ‚¬â„¢s 13 goals scored have come in the third period. All-time, the RiverKings are 9-5-1 in two seasons against Missouri.

RIVERKINGS AT HOME: Mississippi is 17-11-2 in games played at Southaven ‚¬â„¢s DeSoto Civic Center entering this weekend ‚¬â„¢s action. Thursday ‚¬â„¢s 3-2 shootout victory vs. Dayton was the team ‚¬â„¢s last win at home. Chris Richards leads the RiverKings in points at home with 32 and Matt Summers paces Mississippi is goals scored at home with 14. Seven of Richards ‚¬â„¢ 12 goals scored at home have come on the power play and Louis Dumont has scored four shorthanded goals at the DCC. Three of R.G. Flath ‚¬â„¢s nine home goals have been game-winners. At the crease, Larry Sterling is 9-6-1 in home games and Alexander Pechurskiy has a record of 8-3-1 in home encounters. Mississippi is 17.6% on the power play at home and 36 of the team ‚¬â„¢s 96 home goals have come in the final period.

MISSISSIPPI ON THE ROAD: Saturday ‚¬â„¢s 4-2 victory at Quad City marked the last road victory for the RiverKings, which are now 10-17-1 for the season away from home. Last season, Mississippi finished with a 12-16-4 road mark, but win number ten last year came February 19th at Colorado (4-2). Nathan Lutz is Mississippi ‚¬â„¢s leading point getter away from home with 25 points and Matt Summers leads the goal-scoring attack with 13 goals. Ten of Summers ‚¬â„¢ 13 goals have come on the power play and two have been game-winners. Patrik Levesque has scored the first goal of the game on three occasions and R.G. Flath has scored two empty-netters. At the crease, Alexander Pechurskiy has a 7-9-1 record and Larry Sterling is 2-6-2. Mississippi is 15.1% on the power play away from home and 32 of the team ‚¬â„¢s 86 goals on the road have come in the third period of play.

TURNER VS. BERRY: Mississippi has a record of 19-14-2 against Turner Conference competition this season, but is only 8-14-3 against teams from its own Berry Conference.

PLAYER UPDATES

5-Russell Smith...ranks fourth in the CHL for penalty minutes with 189 and is tied for second in the league for minor penalties with 52...took 64 penalty minutes in a nine-game span between February 4th and 19th, tied for the second-longest penalty minute streak of the CHL season.

7-Dane Marshall...assisted on a goal in Saturday ‚¬â„¢s win against Quad City and has two assists in his last five games.

9-Matt Boyd...assisted on a pair of goals Saturday at Quad City, his fifth multi-point game of the season, but first since November 16th...has scored one goal and three assists in his last five contests.

16-Louis Dumont...is two goals scored of 100 career RiverKings goals scored, with 98 of his 424 career professional goals scored coming in a RiverKings ‚¬â„¢ sweater...is tied for the CHL lead in shorthanded goals scored with five.

19-Matt Summers...scored two of the RiverKings ‚¬â„¢ four goals Saturday at Quad City, the fourth time he has scored two or more goals in a game and his 13th multi-point game of the season...has scored goals in 15 of the RiverKings ‚¬â„¢ 27 victories this year...ranks second in the CHL for power play goals with 15...ranks second in the CHL in shooting percentage at .245 (27 goals, 110 shots).

20-R.G. Flath...assisted on a pair of Mississippi goals Saturday at Quad City and has five points in his last five games...has had eight games of two or more points...has three assists in his last two games.

24-Andrew Lackner...is expected to play in career professional game number 300 Friday against Texas.

27-Brennan Sarazin...scored two goals on Saturday at Quad, his first game of two or more goals this year...earned two or more points for the fourth time this season in Saturday ‚¬â„¢s win...has three goals and five points in his last five games...has three points (two goals, one assist) in his last two games.

40-Alexander Pechurskiy...is tied for the CHL lead in shootout wins with three and is fifth in shootout percentage at .815 (22 saves, 27 attempts).

44-Nathan Lutz...is fourth in the CHL for power play assists with 23...has taken 15 penalty minutes in his last five games.

55-Derek Landmesser...assisted on one of the RiverKings four goals in Saturday ‚¬â„¢s win at Quad City and has one goal and four assists in his last five appearances...reached 100 career RiverKings goals scored with his shootout goal in Thursday ‚¬â„¢s win against Dayton.

83-Chris Richards...picked up an assist in his 700th career CHL game on Saturday night in Quad City and has three points (two goals, one assist) in his last three games...is within two points of 900 career professional points, currently with 312 goals and 586 assists.

87-Darrell Stoddard...has taken 14 penalty minutes in his last four games.



Central Hockey League Stories from March 14, 2011


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