By Fred Liggett
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The Kansas City Mavericks resumed play in the Kelly Cup Finals on Wednesday night against the Florida Everblades in game three of the best four out of seven series. The Mavs visit to sunny south Florida started off well thanks to three first period goals but a 3-1 Mavs lead didn’t last as they drop the game 6-3 and fall behind 2-1 in the series.
Just six minutes into the game the Mavericks got on the board thanks to a Jacob Hayhurst goal with 13:58 left in the first period. This was the first time in the series the Mavericks scored first. Logan Lambdin tied the game at one with a Florida goal coming at 7:54 left to play. From this point it was the David Cotton show as he put the Mavs back in front at 2-1 with a goal at 5:50 left in the opening period. Cotton would make it 3-1 with another goal at the 3:06 mark.
The second period of play saw only one goal get put on the board this came from Florida’s Mark Senden with 9:36 left to make it a 3-2 Mavs lead heading into the game’s final 20 minutes. The third period saw the momentum swing to the host Everblades as they tied the game at three with an Oliver Chao goal with 17:51 left to go. Just 54 seconds later it was Chao again scoring to give Florida their first lead of the game at 4-3. Florida would go on to add two more goals including an empty netter to make the final score 6-3. The Mavericks will try to tie the series at two with a game four victory a contest set to be played on Friday, Jun. 7 at 6:35 p.m. CT.
The Mavericks dropped the first game of the series played at home and now the first game played on the road. The Mavericks led in shots on goal at 12-10 after the first period but the end of the game saw Florida with a 41-19 advantage. Mavericks head coach Tad O’Had on life the on road “it doesn’t change, been excellent on the road.” The Mavericks broke the ECHL record in the 2023-24 regular season for road wins and now look to add a post-season road win to their record on Friday night in game four of this Kelly Cup Finals Series.
