Mavericks Win Fifth Straight Road Game, 3-1, Over Blaze

The Missouri Mavericks (9-8-2) won their third straight game overall and fifth straight road game Thursday night, 3-1, over the Bloomington Blaze at US Cellular Coliseum.  Mavericks forward Sebastien Thinel led all scorers with three assists, and he now leads the Central Hockey League in scoring with 29 points (7-22=29) 19 games played.  Forward Ryan Jardine returned from injured reserve and had a goal and an assist for the Mavericks, and goaltender Mike Clemente stopped 30 of 31 shots for his sixth win of the season.  The Mavericks finish their four-game road trip Friday night in Quad City where they will take on the Mallards.  Missouri will return home Saturday night to close out a four games in five nights stretch.
“Complete effort, that was a solid 60 minutes,”  said Mavs’ Head Coach Scott Hillman.  “The penalty kill was the backbone, but captain (Sebastien) Thinel with his fifth, sixth and seventh points in the last two games isn’t bad either.”
The Blaze scored the lone goal of the first period when Dan Barczuk put the puck in the net at the 12:31 mark.  Barczuk skated in on Mavericks’ goaltender Mike Clemente who made the initial save, but the puck rebounded high into the air and landed just over the goal line.  Barczuk was assisted by Ryan Palmer and Tysen Dowzak and the Blaze held onto the one-goal lead for the remainder of the first period.
Missouri bounced back and took the lead in the second period with a pair of goals.  First, Andrew Courtney tied the game on his third goal of the season at the 6:17 mark.  Thinel earned the first of his three assists and Jardine notched an assist in his first game back after coming off injured reserve.  Missouri took a 2-1 lead on a goal by Evan Vossen as he took a feed from Thinel and beat Blaze goaltender Dan Dunn.  The Mavericks outshot the Blaze 13-8 in the period and took the 2-1 lead into the second intermission.
Jardine finished off the scoring on the Mavericks third unanswered goal at the 3:27 mark of the final period.  He one-timed a pass from Thinel and sent the puck through the five-hole of Dunn to give the Mavericks a 3-1 lead.  Defenseman David Simoes had the second assist, and the Mavericks held the Blaze off the scoreboard for the remainder of the game.
Missouri finished 0-for-2 on the power play, but they also killed all three of the Bloomington’s power play chances.  The Mavericks have allowed only two power play goals in the last nine games.
The Mavericks return home on Saturday, December 8 and they will host Quad City again.  The first 2,500 fans in the door will receive a free puck courtesy of Santa Fe Glass.  Tickets on are sale via Ticketmaster.com, by calling (800) 745-3000 or heading to the Silverstein Eye Centers Box Office.  Parking is always free at Independence Events Center. For more information on the Missouri Mavericks visit www.MissouriMavericks.com.