The Kansas City Mavericks showed a lot of character in their December 1st game against the Vancouver Canucks affiliate, Kalamazoo Wings. With two games in two nights, head Coach John-Scott Dickson thought it would be best to start Mason McDonald tonight. Tyler Parsons likely getting the start tomorrow against the Quad City Mallards.
Rough Start
The Mavericks were unable to find their footing in the first 10 minutes of the game. Spending a lot of time playing catch up and giving up ugly goals. Mason McDonald is blindsided by a sharp angle shot that beats him glove side just over five minutes in. The next goal slips past him when he thinks the puck is safely between his pads but slides out for a rebound that is buried in the open half of the net. Goal number three just simply beat him five-hole and Kalamazoo is able to put three on the board in only eight shots.
Tyler Elbrecht Takes a Seat
Captain Tyler Elbrecht starts off yet another home game with a fight less than three minutes in. This will be the first of three times he heads to the box for five minutes for fighting. After the Wings score their second goal he went to chase down some unlucky Wings in the trapezoid which set off an almost line brawl including Troy Dunnay and eventually a charging Mason McDonald from the other side of the ice. His third fight of the night happened in the last four minutes of the first period and resulted in him being dealt a 10 minute game misconduct. Penalty minutes after the first period were 40-38 for the Mavericks.
Mason McDonald Drops the Gloves
Mason McDonald saw tensions rise with Dunnay but what got him out of his net was the Wings gaining up on Tyler Elbrecht including Wings goalie Joel Martin. McDonald took it upon himself to take on Martin with a daring goalie fight. After this scrum 24 minutes of penalties were dealt out to both teams.
Video footage of this fight can be found at https://youtu.be/q8vTdWke3Xo
Hunter Smith Makes His Presence Known
Hunter Smith had a slow start to the season with the Mavericks after being sent down by the Stockton Heat. Tonight he proved he is still a player that deserves recognition. He opened up the scoring in the last half of the second period. After a pretty quiet first 10 minutes the back 10 are where all the magic happened. He screened Joel Martin perfectly and deflected a high slap shot from Bryce Aneloski at the blue line. Martin had no chance and was finally able to catch a glimpse of the puck when it was sitting in the back of the net. Less than a minute later, Jared VanWormer dives for a puck in front of the net and is able to slide it in for goal number two. Less than 30 seconds after that Hunter Smith strikes again to tie the game. Three goals in less than three minutes for the Mavericks in the dying seconds of the second period.
Mike McMurtry Seals the Deal
Mike McMurtry was itching for a goal the whole night and it came to him at the best possible time. Just minutes after a short-handed breakaway he is able to finally get a tally up. The Mavericks take a late slashing penalty in the third with less than five minutes to go. Just seconds after the penalty is killed he finds the back of the net with 1:47 to go.
Mavericks Star Studded Night
Despite an overpowering first period by the Wings, the Mavericks sweep the three stars for the night. Mason McDonald is given the 3rd, Mike McMurtry gets the 2nd and Hunter Smith leaves with the 1st star of the night.
Immediately following the conclusion of the game head coach John-Scott Dickson walked over to the referee and assumably let them know his opinions on some questionable calls or lack thereof from the final minutes of the game. He needed to be held back and escorted off the ice by a linesman.
The Mavericks will face off against Las Vegas Golden Knights affiliate, Quad City Mallards December 2nd at 6:05 MT.
