Courtney's Hat Trick Lifts Mavericks to 6-4 Win Over Denver

Andrew Courtney had the Mavericks first hat trick of the season and the Missouri Mavericks (30-23-6) defeated the Denver Cutthroats, 6-4, Wednesday night at Independence Events Center.  Mavericks’ forward Kenton Miller also had a multiple-goal performance with two goals, and Sebastien Thinel added three assists to improve his CHL-leading point total to 86 points.  Missouri now sits alone in fifth place in the Central Hockey League with 66 points, and the Mavericks are just four points behind the Rapid City Rush for fourth place and home-ice advantage in the playoffs.  The Mavericks magic number to make the playoffs is now five points, and any combination of Mavericks wins and Bloomington Blaze losses that add up to five points will result in a fourth straight playoff berth for Missouri.
Missouri scored the opening goal just 3:45 into the first period on Miller’s first goal of the game.  He was set up by Kellan Tochkin and Thinel.  The Mavericks took a 2-0 lead when Courtney scored the first of his three goals on a two-on-one with Thinel.  The goal came at the 7:03 mark and defenseman Jesse Perrin also earned an assist on the play.
Denver cut the Mavericks lead to 2-1 when Phil Tesoriero sent a wrister from the top of the right circle that Mavs’ goaltender Mike Clemente never saw.  Missouri held the 2-1 lead for the remainder of the period.
Courtney gave the Mavericks a 3-1 lead just 30 seconds into the middle period when he redirected a pass from Ryan Jardine and beat Cutthroats’ goaltender Kent Patterson.  It marked Courtney’s 14th goal of the season and his second multiple-goal performance of the season.  The Cutthroats again cut the lead to one goal when Joel Chouinard scored his fifth goal of the season on a shot from the point that went through traffic.
Missouri took a 4-2 lead early in the third period on Miller’s second of the night as he tapped in a rebound on the power play for his 24th goal of the regular season.  Courtney and Tochkin earned the assists on the play.  Courtney capped his hat trick 13:39 of the third period and the Mavericks held s 5-2 lead.
Three more goals were scored in the final 92 seconds of the game.  Evan Vossen made it 6-2 Mavericks with a short-handed empty net goal with 1:32 remaining, but the Cutthroats continued to battle.  Luke Fulghum scored two goals in the final minute for the Cutthroats to finalize the scoring at 6-4.
Both teams finished 1-for-4 on the power play respectively.  Mavericks’ goaltender Mike Clemente had 36 saves on 40 shots and Denver goalie Kent Patterson had 28 saves on 33 shots.
The Mavericks and Cutthroats will rematch on Friday night at Independence Events Center at 7:05 p.m.  The first 1,500 fans in attendance will receive a Colt King bobblehead.  Missouri will wear specialty themed St. Patrick’s Day jerseys that will be auctioned off after the game and benefit Community Services League.