Toledo blanks Mavericks 2-0

by Bill Althaus, Grain Valley News


The Kansas City Mavericks opened Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals with a 2-0 loss to the visiting Toledo Walleye.

The Mavericks entered the finals following a 4-0 sweep of the Tahoe Lake Monsters. It was not the start coach Tad O'Had hoped for, but he said there is no reason to push the panic button.

"Our guys are fine," O'Had said. "There's a reason this is a best-of-seven series. We didn't take advantage of our (scoring) opportunities tonight.

"That's something we will address. And we will be ready for Game 2. Saturday, our focus will be on playing like we did against Tahoe."

The Mavericks swept the Knight Monsters 4-0 in the series and outscored Tahoe 17-4. Goaltender Jack LaFontaine had two shutouts in the series and entered Thursday night's game with a 1.28 goals against average.

But the Walleye scored two heart-breaking goals in a 20-second span in the third period following two scoreless periods that featured the type of physical play that often comes in a championship series.

Toledo's Matt Anderson slapped his own rebound into the back of the net at 2:51 and Cold Gallant added a slapshot at 3:11 to account for the only goals in the game.

"At times we were a little disjointed out there tonight," O'Had said. "Both teams played a hard 60 minutes. We need to find a way to put the puck in the back of the net Saturday night."

Earlier in the week Mavericks captain David Cotton talked about Kansas City's Game 1 loss to Tulsa in the opening round of the playoffs.

"We lost that game, but we learned so much from that loss," Cotton said. "And we'll look at film and find out what we need to do to be successful in our second game. Two very good teams are in this series. It's tough to see Jack get a loss (after he stopped 32 of 34 shots on goal). We're all happy that Game 2 will be at home (at 6:05 p.m. Saturday)."

Cotton encouraged Mavericks fans to fill Cable Dahmer Arena Saturday.

"We feed off our fans' energy," Cotton said. "The fans who were here tonight were incredible. They know how, and really follow the game. We want this place full Saturday night. It's a seven-game series, but it's so important to come away from these two games with at least one win."

Toledo outshot Kansas City 34-25, including a 14-9 edge in the second period and 8-6 in the third.  

​Toledo goaltender Jan Bednar stopped all 25 shots he faced to earn the shutout win.