The Missouri Mavericks grabbed their first win in the “Visit Independence, Visit Wichita” Cup on the road on Friday night in a 4-0 triumph over the Wichita Thunder. Rookie goalie Ville Husso netted his first pro shutout in the win and helped the Mavericks improve their record to 11-12-5 on the season.
Click here for tonight’s box score.
The Mavericks were forced to play from behind in two of their previous three games entering Friday night’s action. In Wichita, though, the Mavs bucked that trend and struck for a pair of first-period goals to snare control of the game. Darren Nowick put Missouri on the scoreboard exactly two minutes into the contest with his ninth goal of the season. Rocco Carzo’s shot from the left wing was kicked out by Thunder goalie Drew Owsley but the rebound went right to Nowick. Just over four minutes later, Sam Povorozniouk took a pass at center from Radoslav Illo, stickhandled past a pair of defenders and beat Owsley for his 11th of the season and a 2-0 Mavericks lead. Husso made his third start in the Mavericks’ last four games and responded with seven first-period saves.
Husso took center stage for the Mavericks in the second period as the Thunder tested him with 17 shots in the frame. The rookie from Helsinki, Finland denied each Thunder bid and kept Missouri in the driver’s seat. After absorbing the early Thunder surge, the Mavericks padded their lead on Shawn Pauly’s shorthanded goal at 4:53. After a Mavericks clear, Pauly raced to the other end of the ice and stole the puck from Owsley, who was behind the net, and put it into an empty cage. Owsley came up with two big saves late in the period, the first on Matt Finn and the second on Dane Fox’s rebound try, to prevent the Mavericks from going ahead by four.
Missouri was able to keep any potential Thunder comeback bid at bay by playing long stretches of the third period on the power play. The Mavericks drew six penalties in the third period alone and earned two lengthy 5-on-3 opportunities as a result. The Mavericks couldn’t convert on any of the power plays but they kept the Thunder from mounting any momentum at the other end of the rink. Tyler Elbrecht added an insurance goal, his second marker of the season, with 2:29 to play. Nowick had the lone assist on the goal and finished with his second straight multi-point game (third in the last four outings).
Husso’s 33-save shutout was not only the first of his career, but the first of the season for the Mavericks. Missouri ended the night 1-for-7 on the power play and 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.
The Mavericks are now 1-2-0 in the “Visit Independence, Visit Wichita” Cup. The winner at the end of the season will receive a trophy and a $2,000 donation to its local youth hockey organization.
The Mavericks return home on Wednesday, Dec. 28 at 7:05 p.m. to face the Utah Grizzlies.
