The Mavericks come out energetic in their 2nd half of their 2 game matchup against the Cincinnati Cyclones. They almost came out a little desperate in the first bit. They knew what they needed to do but they were not playing relaxed enough to execute. Some weak turnovers, a bad bounce off a puck played by McDonald and some missed hits along the boards. Both teams get a power play opportunity and the Cyclones use theirs to score a power play goal by ripping a shot over McDonald's right shoulder with 6 seconds to go in their man advantage. The Mavericks take another penalty shortly after and they kill it. Period ends 1-0 and shots end pretty tight at 11-10 for the Cyclones.
2nd period starts with a Cyclones goal just 50 seconds in. Unfortunately for the Mavs goal number 3 comes just 6 minutes later. Not as energetic coming out of the gate this period for the Mavs. They need something to change to avoid getting walked all over. Greg Betzold gets tangled up with a Cyclone in the offensive zone and stands up and drops the gloves. He doesn't overpower the fight but looks to draw some energy for his teammates to work off. A Cyclone takes a holding penalty shortly after the fight and the Mavs get the energy they needed and score a power play goal. Given to Shawn Pauly but it looked like Mark Cooper got a piece of the rebound off his skate. Mason McDonald's mask goes flying near the end of the period when a Cyclone player got his stick under the bottom of it and flipped it up and off. Looked like a high stick but no call was made. The score holds through the rest of the period and ends 3-1 for the Cyclones that outshoot the Mavs 28-19 after 40.
The Cyclones get their fourth goal just over 2 minutes into the 3rd. McDonald is beat on the one timer. The Mavericks go to their sloppy play reminiscent of the first. Not a whole lot happens for them in this frame. Shawn Pauly gets slammed into the ice when he is put into an arm lock in the corner. Both players get roughing calls and take a seat for 2/2:21 to go in the game. The game gets especially ugly in the last few minutes. No structure and no fight from the obviously out of it Mavs. Some pushing and shoving and frustration being shown but they let it die along with the game. Final score 4-1. Shots end 38-28 Cyclones. They will see them again on the road on Thursday night.
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