Mavericks Fall In Eight-Round Shootout To Quad City, 4-3

The Missouri Mavericks erased a two-goal deficit in the third period, but lost in an eight-round shootout Wednesday night, 4-3, to the Quad City Mallards. Mavericks’ forward Brandon Smith scored at the 19:59 mark of the third period to tie the game, but the Mavericks fell in a sudden-death shootout after eight rounds. Mallards’ goaltender Neil Conway stopped 30 of 33 shots and seven of eight shots in the shootout to beat the Mavericks. Missouri’s netminder Mike Clemente was equally as impressive stopping 34 shots and making six of eight saves in the shootout. Missouri will resume their battle for the Independence Cup presented by Independence Tourism Friday night when they head to Wichita to take on the Thunder at 7:05 p.m.

“The guys showed great character to battle back late in the third period,” said Mavericks’ Head Coach Scott Hillman. “That was a huge goal by Brandon Smith to salvage a big point on the road.”

The Mavericks skated to a scoreless first period for just the fourth time this season.

The teams traded goals in the second period. Missouri took a 1-0 lead when John-Scott Dickson scored his 12th goal of the season at the 9:05 mark. Dave Pszenyczny and Ryan Jardine earned the assists on the opening goal, but the Mavericks’ lead lasted less than five minutes. Mike Stinziani scored on a power play at the 14:02 mark to tie the game for Quad City.

The Mallards scored on a pair of odd-man rushes in the third period to take a 3-1 lead. Matt Boyd followed a two-on-one rush and scored on a rebound at the 6:43 mark. Then Mike Hellyer gave the Mallards a 3-1 lead at the 8:11 mark on another two-on-one rush.

The Mavericks battled back and Jardine made it a 3-2 game when he beat Conway at the 13:43 mark.  Late in the third period, the Mavericks pulled Clemente in favor of the extra attacker and it paid off when Brandon Smith scored on a backhand with less than one second remaining in regulation. He was assisted by Sebastien Thinel and Kellan Tochkin and the Mavericks earned a point in the standings just for sending the game to overtime.

After a scoreless overtime period, the goaltenders shined in the shootout. Both teams had only one goal in seven chances, and Bob Preece scored the game winning goal in the eighth round of the shootout.

Missouri finished 0-for-2 on the power play and Quad City was 1-for-4. Quad City outshot the Mavericks 38-33. Missouri fell to 0-2 in shootouts this season.

Missouri has two more games remaining in their current four-game road trip. They head to Wichita on Friday, Dec. 28 and Tulsa on Saturday, Dec. 29. The Mavericks will return to Independence Events Center on New Year’s Eve to face off against the Tulsa Oilers at 7:05 p.m.