INDEPENDENCE, MO — Cade Borchardt scored twice, including his 30th goal of the season, as the Kansas City Mavericks powered past the Allen Americans 6-3 on Friday night at Cable Dahmer Arena. With the victory, General Manager and Head Coach Tad O’Had is now just three wins away from becoming the Mavericks’ all-time winningest coach.
The Mavericks wasted no time getting on the board, as Justin MacPherson opened the scoring just 23 seconds into the game, assisted by Marcus Crawford. Borchardt followed up at 3:13, netting his 30th goal of the season, assisted by Casey Carreau and Charlie Wright, to extend the lead.
Kansas City continued its dominance in the first period when Nolan Sullivan struck at 8:31, set up by Luke Loheit and Jake McLaughlin. Wright added another at 10:09, assisted by Damien Giroux, making it a commanding 4-0 lead.
Allen got on the board in the second period with a power-play goal from Matikka at 13:40, but the Mavericks responded quickly. Cade Borchardt scored his second of the night at 11:57 in the third period, assisted by McLaughlin.
The Mavericks added one more insurance goal as Landon McCallum converted on a power play at 13:06, assisted by Carreau and Crawford. Allen tried to mount a late comeback, scoring a shorthanded goal at 17:51 from Hudson Wilson, assisted by Matikka, but it wasn’t enough.
The physicality ramped up in the third period, with Josh Thrower dropping the gloves against Nick Isaacson at 10:39. Cole Fraser was ejected for an illegal check to the head at 12:33, adding to the heated battle between the division rivals.
In net, Victor Ostman earned the win, stopping 29 of 32 shots, while Luke Richardson made 34 saves on 40 shots for Allen.
With the win, the Mavericks strengthen their hold on first place in the Mountain Division and will look to complete the weekend sweep when they face the Americans again on Saturday at 6:05 PM at Cable Dahmer Arena for First Responders Night.
