Mavericks lose home heartbreaker on late goal by Oilers

It was a night to honor Harry Truman for the Mavericks, complete with special jerseys for the Mavericks, an impersonator for the ceremonial puck drop and a No. 33 jersey retired in his honor.
If only the home team had the atom bomb to drop on the Tulsa Oilers.
The Mavericks suffered a heartbreaker, giving up a two-man advantage power-play goal with 43.6 seconds left in the game to give the new Central Hockey League team their first loss at home.
The Mavericks are still looking for their first win against a team that isn’t called the Wichita Thunder, but they had a tough task against the Northern Conference-leading Oilers.
“They’re a very solid team,” Mavericks coach Scott Hillman said of the visiting team. “I think we played even better than we did last weekend; it’s just frustrating to lose like that.”
Right wing/assistant coach Jeff Christian notched two goals and an assist against his former team, pulling him within one goal shy of his 500th career goal and earning him first-star honors for the game.
Although the stats made it look like there were, Christian said there were “no hard feelings” toward the Oilers.
“They were nothing but good to me,” he said. “At my age, to be able to still perform like that is great. They told me to play as long as I can, so they’ve been really good to me.”
The goals were great, but Christian was still bothered by the loss. A hooking penalty to Andrew Davis with 2:33 left and a holding call on Jared Lavender with 58 seconds left gave the Oilers the 5-on-3 power-play chance.
“We’ve got to be able to get wins,” Christian said. “We showed we can play with teams like this, but we’ve got to be able to win. Losing is never good. But I think we’re getting a lot better.”
Christian scored the first goal of the game at the 1:27 mark with a slap shot off a face-off win by Chad Hinz. Tulsa scored two power-play goals to take the lead, but with a minute left in the first, the Mavs got the unexpected equalizer.
In what could only be described as the most bizarre goal at the Events Center, Sean Perkins cleared the puck up the boards toward the Oiler goal, but the puck ricocheted off of the joint where the height of the glass gets higher. The Tulsa goalie, behind the goal to play the puck, could only stare as the puck caromed into the back of the net.
“That’s actually how I scored most of my goals when I played,” Hillman joked.
“That’s not exactly how we drew it up, but that’s the way it worked out,” Christian said.
But it ultimately wasn’t enough, even when the Oilers scored two more goals and Christian answered with his second power-play goal in the second period.
Forward Jeff MacDermid added his own power-play goal four seconds into a power play at the 10:34 mark of the third period to tie it. It was MacDermid’s fourth goal in three games with the Mavericks. The waiver-wire pickup feels very comfortable around his new team, and his hot stick is giving evidence to that.
“That’s a good bunch in there,” MacDermid said, pointing to the locker room. “It’s not a hard transition. I feel very welcome.”
That Mavericks take to the road again Saturday, heading to Mississippi to take on the RiverKings, another team near the top of the Northern Conference.
“They’re a good team. They like to bang,” Hillman said. “We’ve got to be able to win on the road. We can’t afford to dig ourselves any deeper than we already have.”
Although he’d probably like to have it back home in front of the fans, MacDermid had a prediction for Christian and his elusive milestone.
“The way he’s been playing, I think he gets to 500 tomorrow,” he said. “The puck’s been finding him. I really hope he gets it. Five hundred is amazing, and to be a part of that, it’s really special.”

FRIDAY’S GAME
TULSA OILERS 5, MISSOURI MAVERICKS 4
At Independence Events Center
OILERS            2    2    1    —    5
MAVERICKS    2    1    1    —    4
First Period—1, Mavericks, Jeff Christian (Chad Hinz), 1:27; 2, Tulsa, Rob Hisey (power play) (Troy Riddle), 5:53; 3, Tulsa, Michel Beausoleil (power play) (Derek Eastman, Aaron Davis), 12:48; 4, Mavericks, Sean Perkins (Chad Hinz), 18:54. Penalties—Rick Kozak, Tulsa (high sticking), 2:41; Derek Pallardy, Mavericks (hooking), 5:00; Carlyle Lewis, Mavericks (slashing), 12:30; Shaun Arvai, Mavericks (holding), 14:26.
Second Period—5, Tulsa, Dallas Stewart (Tom Maldonado, Rick Kozak), 3:28; 6, Tulsa, Aaron Davis (Michel Beausoleil, T.J. Caig), 7:52; 7, Mavericks, Jeff Christian (power play) (Bill Vandermeer, Chad Hinz), 12:51. Penalties—Jeff MacDermid, Mavericks (hooking), 5:38; Sean Erickson, Tulsa (hooking), 8:36; Tyler Fleck, Mavericks (cross checking), 11:11; Marty Standish, Tulsa (cross checking), 11:11; Troy Riddle, Tulsa (tripping), 12:06; Marty Standish, Tulsa (hooking), 13:44; Andrew Davis, Mavericks (holding); Michel Beausoleil, Tulsa (holding), 18:29.
Third Period—8, Mavericks, Jeff MacDermid (power play) (Jeff Christian, Bill Vandermeer), 10:34. Penalties—Karl Sellan, Mavericks (goalie interference), 4:06; Rick Kozak, Tulsa (board checking), 6:13; Sean Erickson, Tulsa (hooking), 10:30; Andrew Davis (holding), Mavericks, 17:27; Jared Lavender, Mavericks (holding), 19:02.
Shots on goal—Tulsa 16-11-1–28; Mavericks 7-16-4–27.
Power-play opportunities—Tulsa 2 of 6; Mavericks 2 of 7.
Goalies—Tulsa, Kevin Armstrong 9-3-0 (33 shots, 29 saves); Mavericks, Doug Groenestege 3-4-0 (36 shots, 31 saves)
Stars of the game—First: Jeff Christian, Mavericks; Second: Michel Beausoleil, Tulsa; Third: Chad Hinz, Mavericks.
Time—2:33.
Attendance—4,587.
Referee—Kevin Graber; Linesmen—John Grandt, Robert Collier.

SATURDAY'S GAME

■ WHAT: Missouri Mavericks
vs. Mississippi RiverKings.
■ WHEN: 7:05 p.m. Saturday
■ WHERE: DeSoto Civic Center, Southaven, Miss. (near Memphis, Tenn.)
■ RADIO: KCWJ (1030 AM)