Mavericks Fall in Overtime to Cutthroats in Season Opener, 4-3

The Missouri Mavericks battled for a hard-earned point Friday night in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Denver Cutthroats at Denver Coliseum. The Mavericks overcame a two-goal deficit in the third period to force overtime, but Jamie MacQueen scored the game winner for the Cutthroats in their first game in the Central Hockey League.  Mavericks’ captain Sebastien Thinel had a pair of assists and moved into sixth place on the CHL’s all-time points list. The two teams will battle again Saturday night at Denver Coliseum at 8:05 p.m. Central time.
“That was a real solid start to the season,” said Mavericks’ Head Coach Scott Hillman. “There were a lot of good things, but obviously we have a lot to work on also. (Mike) Clemente was solid in net and it was great to overcome a two-goal deficit in the third period.”
The teams skated to a scoreless first period although the Mavericks controlled the puck throughout the period.  Missouri held a slight 11-9 edge in shots through the first 20 minutes, and the Mavericks were forced to kill the only penalty.
Denver took advantage of a 4-on-3 power play to take a 1-0 lead at the 7:30 mark of the second period. AJ Gale ripped a one-timer past Mavericks’ goaltender Mike Clemente for the Cutthroats first goal in franchise history.  Kyle Quincey earned the lone assist on the goal. Brad Smyth gave the Cutthroats a 2-0 lead at 13:29 when he batted home the puck out of mid-air as the Mavericks had a tough time clearing the puck.  Gale earned the assist on the even-strength goal.
Missouri fought back and cut the lead in half when Jeff Pierce score the Mavericks first goal of the season at the 17:43 mark on assists from Ryan Jardine and Thinel.
In the third period, the Cutthroats took a 3-1 lead when Markus Lauridsen buried a slapshot at the 4:49 mark, but again the Mavericks battled back. First, Matt McCready scored from the slot when he picked up a loose puck and shot it past Cutthroats’ netminder Kent Patterson. Pierce and Thinel each earned their second points in the game and Thinel’s point put him all alone into sixth place on the CHL’s all-time scoring list. He now has 731 points (260-471=731) in 568 career CHL points.
Missouri tied the game at three on their first power play goal of the season when John-Scott Dickson took a feed from Derek Leblanc across the crease and Dickson just got the puck over the goalline.  The teams held on for the final six minutes of the game and went to overtime.
After a pair of chances each way, MacQueen took advantage of a turnover in the neutral zone and buried his shot past Clemente to give Denver the 4-3 overtime win.