Mavericks win another Kids Day game

by Bill Althaus, Grain Valley News


WICHITA, Kan. - Kansas City Mavericks coach Tad O'Had chuckled when asked if his ECHL hockey team might petition the league office to see if the remaining games on the team's schedule could start at 10:30 a.m.

That's because the Mavericks made a quick bus trip to Wichita, where they dominated the Thunder 5-1 in their third consecutive Kids Day victory.

The Mavericks are 3-0 in Kids Game games, winning the first game 5-1 and next two 5-1.

Jack LaFontaine has been in the net in each of those games. Following Wednesday's game, LaFontaine is 5-0 with a 1.77 goals against average.

"It doesn't matter when we play," LaFontaine said earlier this season, after a Kids Day victory at Cable Dahmer Arena, "what matters is how well you play and that you get a win."

The Mavericks improved to 7-4 on the season. The Thunder visit the Mavericks for a 7:05 p.m. game Friday and a 6:05 contest Saturday.

"We've had a lot of success in Kids Day games, but we're fine with the evening games, too," O'Had said. "Today was a nice win. We got on the bus, drove to Wichita, got back on the bus and we're home before dark."

"What I would like to see is our team play every game like they've played in the Kids Day games. We were very efficient today - offensively and defensively. And any time Jack is in the net you feel confident because he is one of the premier goalies in the league."

O'Had added, "We wanted to grab an early lead and keep the defensive pressure on, and we were able to do that today."

Nolan Sullivan scored the Mavericks first goal at 10:39 of the first period.

Jackson Jutting made it a 2-0 game at 14:48 of the period and Zach Uens stole the puck and scored at 17:45 to pad the Mavericks lead to 3-0.

"Something we've talked about all season is generating more shots, and we did that this morning," O'Had said.

The Mavericks outshot the Thunder 48-30.

After a scoreless second period, Michael Stinil ended LaFontaine's shutout bid when he scored at 1:11 of the third period.

Kansas City's Jimmy Glynn scored at 6:03 of the third period and Landon McCallum added an explanation point to the finish as he scored an empty goal goal at the 6:03 mark.

"Offensively, we did well, and our defense was really stingy," O'Had said. "Now we have to follow our game plan and get two games this weekend."