As the snow comes down in Kansas City’s first blizzard since 2011, I figured I would sit down and recap Friday night’s Mavericks game. The Mavericks stayed dominant at home against the Thunder as they rolled to a 4-2 victory! The Mavs once again showed that no hole is too deep for them to climb out of after going down 2-1 early by scoring three unanswered goals. The game lived up to the Wichita-Kansas City rivalry (as well as the Battle of Alberta moniker as Wichita’s NHL affiliate is the Edmonton Oilers, and the Mavericks affiliate is the Calgary Flames) as there were a lot of heavy hits, 2 fights, and several cheap shots thrown.

The Mavericks were wearing their orange tenth season jerseys with orange socks, black pants, and helmets. Wichita was wearing white jerseys and socks with black pants and helmets. Wichita won the first faceoff and there was some back and forth for a while with nothing too exciting happening in the first minute or so. Then about a minute in Mark Cooper recorded the first KC shot on goal and Matt Robertson landed a hit along the boards in the attack end. Shortly after that David Dziurzynski threw a huge hit knocking down a Wichita player and brought the crowd to their feet cheering. David threw several big hits in this game and was a huge physical presence.

The Thunder took the puck down the ice and Mason McDonald made a beautiful diving save. Most of the period was dictated mainly by defensive play but at about 11:30 in the first period, C.J. Eick threw a huge hit in the attack end and forced a turnover. David Dziurzynski picked up the loose puck and passed it to his brother Darian who scored a beautiful goal. The Dynamic Duo of David and Darian was at it again!

About 45 seconds later, Matt Robertson threw a heavy crosscheck which brought down a Wichita player and was sent to the penalty box. Wichita wasn’t able to capitalize on their power play, however, as about a minute later Eric Roy was called for hooking. After a bit of 4-on-4, the Mavericks had a 1:13 of power play. Wichita was able to kill their penalty, but the Mavericks had several quality scoring chances on the power play. One of them happened when a Wichita player misplayed the puck right in front of the net. Corey Durocher, playing in his first game of the season after returning from injury, picked up the puck right in the high slot and put a perfect shot on goal. Wichita’s goaltender Stuart Skinner made an absolutely beautiful glove save and robbed Corey of a goal.

After this, Wichita’s defense started doing a good job of clogging up the neutral zone so there weren’t a lot more chances in the first period. Wichita ended up scoring at 17:31 with the score coming from Mark MacMillan and an assist from Pierre-Cedric Labrie. The period ended with a score of 1-1 with Wichita leading in shots 11-10.

The second period started off with a bang when less than 30 seconds in, a Mavericks player hit a Wichita player so hard a pane of glass came loose. It took about two minutes for attendants to get the glass back in place. This was interesting as it is not the first issue to occur with the glass surrounding the rink this season.

The Mavericks quickly recorded some more shots on goal but to no avail as Skinner had them covered. Then at about 5 minutes in, Wichita was called for too many men on the ice. Wichita killed off the penalty but about 30 seconds after the penalty ended, at 7:49 David Dziurzynski got into a fight with Wichita’s Dyson Stevenson. It was a great tilt, and David took Dyson down. Both received 5-minute fighting majors, and David received an additional 2 minutes for elbowing. At this point, David just needed to score a goal to complete a Gordie Howe Hat Trick (A goal, a fight, and an assist).

At 9:36, Pierre-Cedric Labrie picked the corner on Mason McDonald and scored to put the Thunder up 2-1. But the Mavericks wouldn’t be behind for long, at 10:59 Cliff Watson scored with an assist from Riley Sweeney and Jared Van Wormer. After that, Wichita got a breakaway but Neal Goff took one for the team and blocked a shot. It was a really well-executed block but it produced a rebound and Mason McDonald made a beautiful diving save. This huge save, combined with Wichita’s goal lit a fire under the Mavericks. Matt Robertson got a breakaway but Skinner blocked it with his pad.

After that, one of the most bizarre penalties I have ever seen occurred. The Thunder flung the puck in the air down rink and Pierre-Cedric Labrie grabbed it and underhand tossed it into the corner. Labrie made a mistake that not even small children playing make, you cannot close your hand on the puck. Tangent, pucks are frozen to 14 degrees Fahrenheit to reduce bouncing, closing your hand on the puck can warm it up which is why it’s a penalty. This is different from a hand pass which occurs when a player palms the puck and their teammate touches the puck before the player who handled it can touch it with their stick. Labrie was assessed a 2-minute penalty. The Mavericks made sure he paid for his mistake as Corey Durocher scored with assists from Darian Dziurzynski and Jordan Klimek at 14:18. The period ended with a score of 3-2 KC and KC leading Wichita in shots 19-14.

The Third Period started out with the Mavericks peppering Stuart Skinner with several shots but he had them covered. Then at 2:07 Riley Sweeney and Wichita’s Ryan Van Stralen got into a fight after a Mavericks player got tripped up. Sweeney got taken down but it was good scrap. At 6:28 Wichita’s Ralph Cuddemi was called for Delay of Game. Durocher made a great move as he deked the defender and got a great shot off which hit Skinner in the mask. Then at 7:08, Matt Robertson scored a great power play goal with an assist from David Dziurzynski and Jared Van Wormer. With the assist, David completed his Gordie Howe Hat Trick, a testament to the effort and heart that David plays with!

This would be the last goal of the game, but after this is when Wichita started throwing cheap shots. At one point, two players collided on the boards in the defensive end and the door came open. Yet another issue with the boards! The biggest highlight for the rest of the game was CJ Eick was hit from behind after the whistle was blown for icing. CJ tried to go after the player but one of his teammates pulled him aside. Lots of yelling and pushing and shoving occurred and it was clear the Mavericks were incensed over the cheap shot. The game certainly proved why the rivalry with Wichita is so exciting! The Mavericks won 4-2 and led in shots 33-24.

Here are some snapshots of the game courtesy of Stephanie Goldberg!