MOLINE, Ill. – The rolled through the regular season, now they have rolled through the opening round of the 2016 Kelly Cup Playoffs.
The Missouri Mavericks scored twice on the power play to open up a 3-0 lead over the Quad City Mallards, before cruising to a 4-1 series-clinching win in front of 3,062 fans at IWireless Center on Friday night.
Missouri’s Bryce Aneloski celebrates his first period power play goal against Quad City on Friday / Photo by Rich Guill (PHN)
Bryce Aneloski broke a scoreless tie 7:35 into the opening frame, scoring his second playoff goal on a power play. Working the puck behind the right side of the net on the man advantage, Carter Verhaeghe found Aneloski moving towards the net from the center of the left circle. Aneloski took the pass, then buried it into the open net to the right of Quad City goaltender P.J. Musico to make it 1-0. Rocco Carzo picked up the secondary assist on the score.
The score remained the same for more than 20-minutes until Missouri increased its lead on a Chris Owens goal at 9:14 of the second.
Keeping the puck alive inside the offensive zone, Carzo let loose a shot that ricocheted to David de Kastrozza, who then moved across the zone and dropped the puck for Owens. Owens then fired a shot from the high slot that made its way through traffic and into the net to make it a 2-0 Mavericks lead. The goal was his second of the playoffs.
Carzo, one of three Mavs players to post multiple points on the night, found the net eight and a half minutes later on the man advantage. When Verhaeghe’s shot hit the post, Carzo was in perfect position in front of the net to backhand the puck home past a sprawled-out Musico to make it 3-0 at 17:46. C.J. Ludwig was credited with the extra helper on the play.
Sam Warning broke up Missouri netminder Josh Robinson’s shutout attempt 7:54 into the final period to pull the Mallards within two goals. With a rush on in front of Robinson, Warning managed to put the puck past the ECHL Goaltender of the Year to make it 3-1. Olivier Archambault and Austin Coldwell were credited with the assists on Warning’s second marker of the postseason.
Carter Verhaeghe’s third period goal secures Missouri a berth in the second round of the Kelly Cup Playoffs / Photo by Rich Guill (PHN)
Four-minutes later Verhaeghe would light the lamp to ice the game. Moving in against a pair of defenders, Verhaeghe pushed a puck on net that skipped off of Musico’s shoulder and trickled towards the goal line. Moving around the goalie, Verhaeghe tapped the puck across the line to make it 4-1, with de Kastrozza credited with the assist.
Robinson finished the game with 24 saves on 25 shots, giving him a series record of 3-0 with 84 saves on 90 shots in three games.
With the first round out of the way, the Mavericks can return to independence and get some rest as they await the winner of the Allen Americans versus Idaho Steelheads series. That series is tied 2-2, with game five set to take place tonight in Boise at 7:10pm MDT. The series shifts back to Texas for game six on Tuesday. Game seven, if necessary, is scheduled for a 7:05pm CDT opening face-off Wednesday in Allen.
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Contact the photographer: Rich.Guill@prohockeynews.com
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