The Mavericks are back in action for a weekend series against the South Carolina Stingrays. Mason McDonald stays hot and unsurprisingly starts the first night. They got Mark Cooper back today and with Mike McMurtry still down here, they have an abundance of forwards at the moment. Pretty exciting for the team thought with the potential in their scoring ability.
On the first power play of the game, the Mavericks are successful by a wrist shot from Joey Sides. Mark Cooper and Corey Durocher get assists on his goal. A good change of pace for the Mavericks whose opponents often score first on them as of lately. The first period continues on with a few penalties here and there but not a whole lot of action. The Mavericks hold their 1-0 lead to the intermission and lead 8-3 in shots.
The second period starts off with a little more rough stuff. Keeping in mind these teams have not seen each other this season. This results in some pretty tame play. There were a couple big hits off the glass but still not an overly exciting game. Later in the period, the Mavericks come up on a big rush, Rocco Carzo tries to bat a puck out of the air, Corey Durocher gets a point-blank chance then finally Nate Widman puts it home and the Mavericks extend their lead to 2. Corey Durocher picks up an assist and earns his second point of the night. The score holds to the end of the period.
The game finally shows some glimpses of the speed picking up halfway through. The Stingrays practically lull the Mavericks to sleep and both teams begin to fight. Mavericks looking to secure some insurance goals and they do! Rocco Carzo redirects a shot from Darian Dziurzynski and puts the Mavericks up 3-0. This gives Corey Durocher another assist. He earns an assist on every goal of the game so far and my vote for 1st star of the night. South Carolina calls a timeout and pulls their goalie and it takes David Dziurzynski about 30 seconds to score on the empty net. The Stingrays take two penalties in the last 2 minutes and secure their loss even further. Mason McDonald gets his 3rd win in a row and earns the 4-0 shutout win.
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