SOUTHAVEN, Miss – After trailing 2-0 in the third period, the Mississippi RiverKings (23-16-2) battled back and forced an overtime against the Columbus Cottonmouths to earn a victory (14-21-3) in a shootout.
In a scoreless first period, RiverKings’ goalie Peter Di Salvo stopped 11 shots while 
Columbus’ goalie Mavric Parks diverted 10 shots.
Yet, the Cottonmouths’ sprung for two goals in the second. Forward Keeagan Bruce scored a goal on a one-on-one opportunity against RiverKings goalie Di Salvo to earn a 1-0 lead. Two minutes later, Cottonmouths forward Alexander Taulien bounced a puck off Di Salvo’s chest which allowed Derek Gingera to inch the puck past the RiverKing goalie to give Columbus a 2-0 lead in the second.
With less than a minute into the third period, the RiverKings scrapped back with an early goal from Ryan Marcuz who was assisted by Mike Grace and Brant Sherwood to make it a 2-1 game. The RiverKings climbed back to tie the game 2-2 with 12:29 minutes left to play due to a power play goal from Brant Sherwood. The two goals from the RiverKings in the third would force overtime against the Cottonmouths.
In a thrilling three-on-three hockey overtime, Di Salvo would secure a penalty shot from Gingera to force an overtime shootout. In the shootout, Matt Harrington and Devin Mantha placed the puck past Parks to give the RiverKings the edge. RiverKings goalie Di Salvo averted four of five shots from the Cottonmouths to secure the victory.
Peter Di Salvo (12-8-4) stopped 32 of 34 shots in the victory while Maveric Parks (2-1-2) suffered the defeat by stopping 31 of 33 shots in regulation.
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