Mavs Win 7th Straight, 5-4 Over Blaze

The Missouri Mavericks continued their winning ways Saturday night at Independence Events Center, defeating the Bloomington Blaze by the score of 5-4. The win was the Mavs seventh in a row, the second longest winning streak in franchise history. Kellan Tochkin led the way with three assists and Andrew Courtney and Jeff Pierce each had two assists. All five goals from Missouri were scored by different players and John-Scott Dickson became the first player on the team to reach 10 goals on the season with his third period marker. Mike Clemente also reached double-digits in wins, with tonight being his 10th win of the 2012-13 season.

Ryan Jardine scored the first goal of the game for Missouri at the 12:31 mark of the first period. Andrew Courtney and Kellan Tochkin got the assists on the opening tally. With Jardine’s goal, fans threw thousands of stuffed toys onto the ice as a part of the Mavs’ annual Teddy Bear Toss presented by Mazuma Credit Union. Bloomington evened the score with just under four minutes remaining in the period on a goal from Sebastien Trudeau. The Mavericks took a 2-1 lead into the locker room after Podge Turnbull netted a goal for Missouri as the horn sounded. The time of the goal was 19:58 of the first period.

Brandon Smith doubled the Mavs’ lead at the 2:43 mark of the second period, burying a loose puck in the crease. Tochkin and David Simoes assisted on the goal. Evan Vossen brought the score to 4-1 with a breakaway goal at the 10:45 mark of the second period. Kenton Miller and Jeff Pierce were credited with the assists on the goal. Bloomington cut the Mavs lead to two goals with just over three minutes to go in the second period on a power play goal from Ryan Palmer. The second period ended with the Blaze outshooting the Mavs 22-19.

Kyle Bochek brought the score within one goal early on in the third period, netting a goal just three minutes into the final period of regulation. The Mavs extended the lead to two goals yet again five minutes later on John-Scott Dickson’s 10th goal of the season. Despite a late goal from Steve Makway, the Mavs held off the Blaze to preserve the 5-4 victory and extended their winning streak to seven games.

The seven-game winning streak is the second longest in team history, with the longest coming last season, when Missouri won eight consecutive games.

The Mavericks wrap-up the back end of their home-and-home weekend set with the Blaze tomorrow afternoon in Bloomington. Missouri returns to Independence Events Center on Tuesday, December 18 to faceoff against the Arizona Sundogs.