Tonight's game is a rescheduled game from last Tuesday against the Tulsa Oilers. They cancelled due to freezing rain and dangerous road conditions. I was unable to attend the last two games over the weekend but the Mavericks were victorious in both. On Friday against the Allen Americans, Mason McDonald shut them out by a score of 2-0. On Saturday against the Kalamazoo Wings, the Mavs worked from a 3-1 deficit to win it 4-3 in overtime. This weekend will be the first stretch of away games they have had in a long time as they will take on the Mountain Division-leading Utah Grizzlies.
Tonight Mason McDonald gets the nod for the 7th game in a row. Zach Fischer was reactivated from the IR today and recalled to Stockton as a result. Joining him in Stockton last week was also Mike McMurtry and Nick Schneider. Schneider was not getting any action down here when McDonald came back and had a hot streak of games. Mike Panowyk has also been brought back from the IR and is playing in tonight's competition. Mark Cooper is back in the AHL as San Antonio called him back.
The first 5 minutes of the game were painfully slow but the Mavericks get an early power play and shift the momentum their way for a couple minutes. They get 3 shots and held good zone pressure throughout their power play. They players start to catch up to each other and unfortunately, Tulsa is the one to attack first. They hold their 1-0 lead for the remainder of the period. Riley Sweeney appears to break away at the end of the period but is only halfway up the ice when the horn sounds and get a quality shot. Not a whole lot of other notable action.
The Mavericks get their chance in the 2nd period and tie the game up thanks to a beautiful shot by Darian Dziurzynski that hits the crossbar and lands in. A few minutes later, the Oilers go on a huge 5 on 3 penalty for 30 seconds and the Mavericks successfully kill both. Mason McDonald got peppered with shots this period and a seemingly harmless puck finds its way over the line just before the net comes off. This happened in the dying minutes of the period and the Mavericks fall behind to end this period as well. Tulsa works their way up in shots and lead the Mavericks 23-12 in that tally and 2-1 in goals.
Both teams get coincidental minors in the first 5 minutes of the 3rd period but 4 on 4 hockey makes no change to the score. These penalties end with the Mavericks getting a power play. Thankfully the guy in the box has scored twice in this game so at least he's on timeout for a bit. That penalty expires and the Mavericks make it through 2.5 periods with only 14 shots on net. Not quite the recipe for success on that one. The Mavericks call a timeout with 2:27 to go in regulation. Mason McDonald skates off before the puck drops for the faceoff and the Mavs hold pressure for the remainder of the game. Their effort falls just short and Tulsa takes this game by a score of 2-1. Shots end 32-24 for Tulsa. They will hit the road for the weekend.
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