Mavericks: Hang In There, Baby!

When we last checked in with Kansas City, the Mavs had rattled off a 5-1 run, good enough for ten points and sole possession of the last playoff spot in the ECHL’s Central Division. They were six points back of the Cincinnati Cyclones for 3rd place, and had the Kalamazoo Wings only a point back of KC’s 4th place spot.

In the two weeks since, the Mavericks knocked out three wins and four losses, with two of those L’s being in overtime to the 87-point Idaho Steelheads. They also handily took the only divisional match of this stretch, stomping Quad City 8-0. That gave them 8 points in 7 games on a tough stretch against mostly Mountain Division squads. The playoffs are only a couple weeks away and every point counts!

GAME BY GAME:

03/09/18 @ Idaho Steelheads OTL 2-3

03/10/18 @ Idaho Steelheads OTL 2-3

03/16/18 @ Tulsa Oilers L 3-5

03/18/18 Quad City Mallards W 0-8

03/20/18 Wichita Thunder W 1-3

03/23/18 @ Allen Americans L 2-3

03/24/18 @ Allen Americans W 6-1

WHERE THEY STAND:

The stretch was good enough to keep KC in the mix, but as Kalamazaoo kept pace and has two games in hand, they sit in the final playoff spot out of the tie with a .547 winning percentage to KC’s .530 WP. The Indy Fuel still remain in everyone’s heels, just a point back of the Mavs and Wings.

THE SQUAD:

Goalie Adam Carlson saw the bulk of the starts in this stretch over Mavric Parks. Carlson went 2-2 in four starts (with an SO against Quad City) while Parks dropped his only start with a loss. Carlson has since been reassigned to the AHL’s Hershey club, and Parks has been released from his SPC (Standard Player Contract). This of course can only mean one thing goaltender wise: Tyler Parsons has been reassigned from Stockton! Between injuries and his callup to Stockton, Parsons hadn’t started a game for Kansas City since February 8th, and went 1-1 in his first two games back with the club. (3 GA 22 SVS Loss vs Allen Americans; 1 GA 27 SVS Win vs Allen Americans)

Mark Cooper is still holding onto 1st place in team scoring, but it’s a tight race and a bottleneck, with only five points seperating the teams top five point-getters. D-Man Patch Alber continues his strong offensive showing as he leads KC in assists, and Shawn Pauly has the goals lead for forwards at 24. Tyler Elbrecht still leads the team with 146 PIMs, twice as many as the next closest skater, Eric Freschi. That still only puts Elbrecht in 16th overall in the ECHL, Garrett Clarke of the Indy Fuel leads that category with 259 penalty minutes.

UP NEXT:

The final seven games of the regular season for KC are upon us! It’ll be a tough task for the Mavs to do much but hang onto their spot, because they only have three divisional games left (one against the Fort Wayne Komets who’ve already clinched a playoff birth with 91 points, two against Indy who are three points back for the last playoff birth). They’ll have to work with a pair of matchups against the Utah Grizzlies, and another tussle with Tulsa otherwise. Check back with M&G in two weeks to see if the Mavericks can fight their way into the ECHL playoffs!

by MilhouseFirehouse