Kansas City starts their 3 game weekend at home against Toledo Walleye. They got a little extra attention tonight as it was a televised game.
Mason McDonald gets the start. The first goal comes from Toledo just over 5 minutes into the game. A wrister from the slot beats McDonald and he didn't know where the puck was until he heard it hit metal. The first plays very quick with just one whistle through the first. A lot of back and forth hockey, mostly favoured towards the Walleye. After a TV timeout about 12 minutes in, Toledo gets their second. Again, in a play that McDonald does not seem to get a good read on. Tyler Elbrecht responds almost immediately to this by challenging a Walleye player to a fight he had all the control of. At the next puck drop, Troy Donnay gets into a fight of his own and his opponent pulls him down to the ice and just rails on him. Both guys in the box had a lot to say to their opponents on the other side. Donnay's fight was a dirty, unsportsmanlike move from the Walleye d-man. The Mavs get a powerplay 3/4 into the period and give up a short handed breakaway that McDonald doesn't really have to make a save on as it rolls off the end of his stick. A late penalty from Mark Cooper puts the Mavs short handed to start the 2nd. Shots end 8-4 for Toledo and the score sticks at 2-0. It was pointed out by a former insider that both goals in the first were produced by defence.
The first intermission wasn't even finished yet and Elbrecht finds yet another fighting partner. My guess is the conversations on the ice aren't very jolly tonight. The second period was more Mavericks than Walleye. Eric Freschi had a few quality opportunities in the slot but was unable to capitalize off of them. The Walleye goalie has not been leaving a lot of room for the Mavs. They need to figure out more creative ways to put the puck past him. They do end the period still trailing 2-0 but even up the shot clock a bit more. Shawn Pauly takes a late holding call in the 2nd and they start another period with a penalty. This time its 1:47 into the third.
The third looks familiar to the first with a lot of zone time for Toledo and not a lot of opportunities for the Mavericks. Any close chances the Mavericks could get would result in the same disappointing results. 11 minutes in, the Mavericks get a powerplay and with 24 seconds left in that one, the Walleye find themselves down another man. They get a 5 on 3 to work with. They call a timeout and play out both penalties with no production. McDonald was making some quality kick saves towards the end of the game that held it at 2. He is pulled from the net with 2 mins to go for one last stand for the Mavericks. They lose control of the zone and end up scrambling to protect their own. Toledo scores an empty netter to basically seal this game.
Final Score 3-0 Walleye. Shots end 24-20 Mavericks. They get another shot at them tomorrow night.
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