Mavericks: Limping Into The Stretch Drive

When we last checked in with the Flames ECHL affiliate Kansas City Mavericks they were holding down the last playoff spot in the Mountain Division, with a nine-point lead on the Rapid City Rush who are chasing them down for fourth place. Taking a road swing into the South Division for four games was a tough stint and things have tightened up, as the Mavs have hit another skid and have now lost six games in a row and are 3-6-0-1 in their last ten contests. KC has struggled on the road this year and are in the midst of a season high stint as the visitors, with ten of their eleven final regular season games on the road. The Rush are now only five points back of the final playoff spot, while Kansas City has an uphill battle to move up a spot being seven points behind the third place Utah Grizzlies. One playoff spot remains to be clinched as we head into the final run.

Game By Game:

MAR 19th- KC Mavericks 2 @ South Carolina Stingrays 4 – LOSS

MAR 21st- KC Mavericks 3 @ Greenville Swamp Rabbits 5 – LOSS

MAR 22nd- KC Mavericks 3 @ South Carolina Stingrays 5 – LOSS

MAR 23rd- KC Mavericks 3 @ Atlanta Gladiators 4 – LOSS

MAR 27th- KC Mavericks 3 @ Cincinnati Cyclones 5 – LOSS

The Squad:

Rocco Carzo has heldon to the team points lead, with three goals and two assists in a recent streak. With nine points in the last five, Greg Betzold has lept up to second on the squad, while Darian Dziurzynski still leading the team in goals at 27. Former team points leader Jared Vanwormer has gone ice cold since returning from a loan stint, going pointless in his last five contests and dropping to fourth in team scoring.

In the crease, Flames prospect Mason McDonald continues to carry the workload, starting four of Kansas City’s last five games. He struggled in and lost all of those starts, and Mason’s GAA has climbed from 2.32 to 2.59 and his GAA has moved to .915 from .921.

His fellow Flames prospect goalkeeper Nick Schneider continues to have a tough time in the ECHL. Schneider’s Goals Against Average continues to climb towards the sky-high 4.00 mark, up to 3.84 from 3.74 at last check-in.

Up Next:

KC will continue to be tested down the stretch to end the regular season, as they head on the road for five of their next six games final games which part of a run that’s including a stretch of ten of eleven on the road plus eight straight away from home. They won’t find much help to climb the standings in that run either, as only two of those games are against divisional opponents in the Rapid City Rush, who’ll they’ll visit back-to-back to close out the regular season. Although the Rush are a Mountain Division rival, they’re five points back of the Mavs but it could still affect the race as KC holds down the division’s last Kelly Cup playoffs spot and Rapid City is hoping to catch them. The Mavericks currently have two games in hand on Rapid City. Check back with M&G in two weeks as the ECHL playoff race winds down!

by MilhouseFirehouse