The Maverick’s try and work back from a 3 goal deficit yet again. Their efforts were there but luck was not on their side this time. They lose to the Golden Knights ECHL affiliate, the Quad City Mallards 5-3.
Correale Gets the Hook
Dan Correale took a hooking penalty early in the game that resulted in a goal only 7 seconds into him stepping into the box. In the same period, he gets called for hooking again and history repeats itself. This time, just a little bit slower. Mallards are able to take a 2-0 lead with only 9 shots on goal.
Parsons by the Numbers
Tyler Parsons went into this game with quite a few stats on his shoulders. He went in leading the ECHL in saves with 439, 5th ranked in wins and 2nd ranked in minutes. This game he stopped 22/27. He got most of the work in the first period, making people forget there was even a goalie at the other end of the ice but as the Mavericks put up more shots he was able to take more of a break. Goal number three came off a one-timer that beat him glove side. The first period alone he faced 14 leaving the other half of his shots split between the next two periods.
Penalty Killing their Momentum
The Mavericks go into this game with a bleak penalty kill rating of 23rd in the league. In this game, they kill off 3/5 penalties but still look for improvements going forward. Towards the end of November, their penalty kill looked like it had hope but after this weekend matchup, you can tell it still needs some fine tuning.
Quiet Night For Smith
After last nights performance, you couldn’t help but be drawn to Hunter Smith’s ice presence. Tonight, he did not get any good looks until the 3rd period where the Mavericks really brought their fight to try and even the score. He tried some things similar to last night including a deflection play that resulted in a glove save and a point blank shot from his screening position. Other than that, it would have been nice to see more out of him in the first 40 minutes.
McMurtry Staying Hot
Mike McMurtry put up points for the second night in a row, earning himself the second star of the night. He leads the team in scoring with 24 points and put up a goal and an assist tonight. He was easily the hardest working Mav of the night and had the most jump throughout the game. He takes the ice hungry for more and gets a lot of quality scoring chances centering Hunter Smith and Dan Correale.
A Stat that Doesn’t Get Put to Work
The Mavericks are first in the league in overtime performances. In the dying minutes of this game, they tied this game at 3 and the possibility of going to overtime was quite feasible. However, the Mavericks were unable to hold their zone and give up a late goal with 1:27 to go that eventually leads to an empty netter that seals the game.
Mavericks Captain, Tyler Elbrecht shared his thoughts after the game on the night and explained how the team needs to be more disciplined. The bad penalties they take are coming back to bite them and they need to adjust. They have some time to reflect on this game but need to put it behind them when they take the ice against the Wichita Thunder on Wednesday.
