The Mavericks look to bounce back at home tonight after falling 4-1 last night in Tulsa. Greg Betzold had the lone goal in that game. They host the Indy Fuel with Mason McDonald being reactivated from the IR and getting his first start in net this season.
The game starts out with a quick pace and physical presence. Not a whole lot of shots to start out with but a good range of hits. Indy gets a power play and scores just seconds into it. The Mavericks answer back minutes later with Lloydminster native Darian Dziurzynki's first of the year. Helpers coming from Neal Goff and Rocco Carzo. A delay of game penalty puts the Maverick on the PK for the second time of the night but that doesn't stop Carzo from getting a short-handed goal! The Fuel are unable to answer back so the Mavs keep on going. 2 more goals coming within seconds of each other from Jordan Ernst and Rocco Carzo again. A productive first period puts the Mavs up 4-1 and leading 12-10 in shots.
A similar pace to the second period and a goaltending change for the Fuel is how the 2nd frame starts. Nothing hugely notable through the first 10 minutes other than a penalty from Cliff Watson of KC. Not a very exciting period in comparison to the first but they still get the job done. Jordan Ernst appears to get sliced by a skate and heads back to the bench slowly. Mavs end the period still up 4-1 and leading in shots 28-19.
Indy does not start the 3rd the way they would have probably wanted by giving up an early penalty. The Mavs get just halfway through the power play and are given another. They score within seconds of the 5 on 3 which came from Mark Cooper originally but was later changed to Jared VanWormer. After the last penalty expires, Jordan Klimek gets his first professional goal and puts the Mavericks up 6-2. The other Dziurzynski gets a goal (David) off a breakaway and the Mavs play out the last couple minutes up 7-2. Time runs out and Mavs hold their 5 goal lead. Shots end 41-27. McDonald faces 27 shots and stops 25.
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