’Hounds earn big sweep of rival

Youngstown beat the
Mississippi RiverKings 3-2 Saturday night.

By GREG GULAS

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

YOUNGSTOWN — With sole possession in the Northeast Division on the line, the Youngstown SteelHounds didn’t need to deviate much from their weekend game plan as they eyed a sweep of division co-leader, the Mississippi RiverKings.

While Friday’s win was offensive in nature, Saturday’s handling of the RiverKings was just the opposite; rather defensive, if the truth be told.

Kirill Starkov scored two goals and added an assist, registering a five-point weekend to help pace Youngstown (19-8-1, 39 points) to a 3-2 victory over Mississippi (18-8-1, 37 points) in Central Hockey League action at the Chevrolet Centre.

It was the second straight win over the RiverKings and their fourth win in six outings this season against their division rivals.

“It was a very special weekend for me, not so much individually but the way that we played as a team. I was pleased to make a significant contribution,” Starkov said.

“It’s a nice feeling to be in sole possession of first-place right now, but we have to keep playing hard and that goes for everyone on the team,” he added.

The RiverKings got on the board first when Aaron Davis’ slap shot registered at 15:43 of the opening period.

Davis’ power play opportunity held up until Starkov’s first goal of the game, also on the power play found the back of the net at 18:05, knotting the score at 1-all heading to the second period.

Petr Pohl’s unassisted goal at 8:16 of the second period, his second in as many nights, gave the SteelHounds a 2-1 advantage but the RiverKings’ Ryan Campbell, with an assist from Davis on the power play, tied the game at 2-all at the 9:01 mark of the period.

Starkov’s second goal of the night at 13:16 then gave Youngstown the lead for good as both teams failed to score in the final 27 minutes of play.

The unsung hero of the night was arguably goalie Brad Roberts, who rejected 23 Mississippi shots; 10 each in the first and third periods for his second consecutive victory and his fifth in nine outings this season.

”It’s tough to describe how excited I am about our play this weekend. The boys came to play and were flat out relentless tonight. They played a solid 60 minutes at both ends of the ice,” SteelHounds head coach Kevin Kaminski said.

“Kirill [Starkov] has lots of skill and talent must continue to work hard while Petr [Pohl] again, was absolutely relentless. [Brad] Roberts was solid in net both nights and it looks like he is back in his old form,” Kaminski added.

The SteelHounds were outshot by the RiverKings, 25-23.

It was the second consecutive win for Youngstown after dropping two consecutive road games. They are 6-4 now in their last 10 outings.

The RiverKings, who entered the series with a six-game win streak, fell to 6-5-1 in 12 road outings.

Youngstown will now pay host to the Tulsa Oilers and former SteelHounds favorite Jeff Christian Friday and Saturday at the Chevrolet Centre.

Face off both nights is 7:05 p.m.