SOUTHAVEN, Miss – After a typical defensive battle in the first game of their series the Mississippi RiverKings and the Oklahoma City Blazers decided to tear up the rink in Desoto for the second game of the season. Mississippi set the tone early as they sped out to a 3-0 lead over the Blazers After a dominating first period by the RiverKings and the first goal of the third period, the Blazers fought back to control the second and moved to within a goal of their hosts. However they could not defeat Kevin Beech, the CHL Goaltender of the Year, early in the final frame and Garrett Larson scored mid-way through the third period to salt the win. Mississippi outshot Oklahoma City by a 15-4 margin in the first period, but Oklahoma City goaltender Doug Groenestege held them into the contest until he was injured after Mississippi’s second goal. Darrell Stoddard broke the scoreless contest at the 12:27 mark with assists from Martin Gascon and Matt Summers. A little more than two minutes later Jeff Alcombrack smacked in a power play goal to double the RiverKings lead. At that point Groenestege was shaken up and despite attempting to, was unable to stay in the game with an injury to his right leg. At that point Andy Franck game into the game for the Blazers and he held Mississippi off the board until Summers scored early in the second period. The two clubs then traded goals as the Blazers Eric Przepiorka and Mississippi’s Adam Smyth notched scores. One of the questions about the Blazers going into the series was the ability of their young club to rebound when the veteran RiverKings got their foot on the Blazers throats. It was a test that Oklahoma City nearly passed as Bill Vandermeer converted a nice pass from Tyler Harder and a power play goal from Josh Patterson pulled the Blazers to within a goal during a period they outshot Mississippi by a 14-7 margin. It was then Beech’s turn to shine. Sensing a change in momentum the Blazers tested the RiverKings goaltender repeatedly, but without success. At that point Larson bagged his power play goal and the two clubs were even in the series. The two teams will take off the next few days to allow the rest of the CHL playoffs to catch up with them as game three of the series will not take place until Wednesday, April 1st. Notes After reviewing the tapes of Game One there were two assists given to the Blazers, one for each of their goals during their 2-1 overtime win. Bill Vandermeer was credited with a secondary assist for springing Chad Hinz loose on the first goal. Przepiorka was given credit for the primary assist on the game-winner as it was his rebound Ted Vandermeer potted for the overtime winner. DJ Jelitto retained an assist on that goal and finished the game with two points. Hinz’s assist on Patterson’s goal stretched his point-scoring streak in the playoffs to seven games. Gascon registered three assists to lead all scorers in game two. The Blazers did not update Groenestege’s status, but with five days between games there is a chance he could return for game three.
Contact the author at tom.schettino@prohockeynews.com .
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