INDEPENDENCE, MO — Jack LaFontaine celebrated his 100th professional game with a victory as the Kansas City Mavericks edged the Allen Americans 3-2 on Wednesday night at Cable Dahmer Arena for their eighth straight home win.
Kansas City took control early, opening the scoring at 11:27 of the first period when Chase Brand scored his first goal as a Maverick, assisted by Cade Borchardt and Damien Giroux.
The Mavericks struck quickly in the second period, with Borchardt scoring just 58 seconds in, set up by Giroux. Later in the period, Jake McLaughlin extended the lead at 11:42, assisted by Casey Carreau and Jackson Berezowski. Allen responded at 13:34, with Nick Isaacson cutting the deficit to 3-1.
The Americans made it a one-goal game early in the third period, as Isaacson scored again at 4:52, assisted by Colin Jacobs, but the Mavericks held strong the rest of the way.
LaFontaine was solid in net, stopping 26 of 28 shots to secure the milestone victory. Kansas City outshot Allen 34-28, controlling play in all three periods.
With tonight’s win, Mavericks General Manager and Head Coach Tad O’Had is now just four victories away from becoming the winningest head coach in franchise and Kansas City pro hockey history.
With the win, the Mavericks remain in first place in the Mountain Division and will look to build on this momentum as they face the Americans again in game two of the three-game series at Cable Dahmer Arena, with puck drop at 7:05 PM.
