Despite blowing a 3-1 lead in the third period, the Denver Cutthroats came back to win 4-3 in their franchise’s inaugural game over the Missouri Mavericks.

Jamie “Lightning” MacQueen, scored while using a defenseman for a screen, fired the puck by Mavericks goalie Mike Clemente at the 2:56 mark of the overtime period. MacQueen scored after taking a hard hit in the third period behind the Mavericks net and skated off slowly, blood dripping from his nose.

“I told him ‘plug that nose up, next time you’re on the ice, you’ll score a goal,” Cutthroats coach Derek Armstrong said. “it ended up working out alright.”

Despite outplaying the Mavericks for much of the game, the Cutthroats went into a prevent defense and the Mavericks came back to score two goals to force overtime, allowing MacQueen his retribution.

“Can’t write a better script, I guess,” MacQueen said.

The Cutthroats carried the momentum for much of the game, especially after scoring first in the second period. Once they got their feet under them and started moving, they were able to take it to the visiting Mavericks. However, once defenseman Markus Lauridsen blasted a one-timer past Clemente to make it 3-1, the Cutthroats started to sit back and let the offensive stars of the Mavericks shine. Matt McCready scored one minute later and the Mavericks poured on the pressure leading to Brian Bicek’s game-tying powerplay goal.

“It was nice to get the first goal, it built a little momentum and I think we carried it on but we let off a times,” forward A.J. Gale said. “We definitely need to come out with a little spark each night. We knew they were a good team on paper and they are good.”

Avalanche prospect Kent Patterson was solid in net, stopping 29 of the 32 shots he faced, 11 of them coming early in the contest as Missouri came out hard. Patterson squared himself to the puck and did well to manage the game and keep himself calm.

“He played really good, I couldn’t fault him on any of the goals,” captain Aaron MacKenzie said. “He’s got a calm demeanor, it didn’t seem like anything rattled him.”

Patterson had to be sharp early to keep his team in the game until their legs got underneath them and then showed some mental toughness to keep the game tied to give the Cutthroats a chance in overtime.

“We came out a bit sluggish, couple bad penalties there, working our PK a little bit,” Armstrong said. There’s a long way to go, we got 19 brand-new guys out here.”

The Cutthroats first line of Gale, Brad Smyth andTroy Schwab was the best line of the night, combining for two goals and five points overall. All game those three played a chemistry that was unmatched on the ice, a trend the continued throughout the game.

“I played with Schwaby in Witchita there, he plays well and sees the ice a ton and Smitty’s resume speaks for itself, Gale said. “He’s a super smart player.”

In his first game, Kyle Quincey was the player who is currently a member of an NHL team but there was still an adjustment period for him.

“It was just fun to get the first one under our belt and obviously the win in exciting fashion.,” Quincey said.

Quincey had to adjust throughout the game, shaking the offseason rust off and trying to figure out the new level of hockey being played, though the thing he noticed most of all was time. He had more time to think about where to move the puck and what his next play would be.

“It’s definitely different hockey,” Quincey said. “I think the team and myself got better and better as the game went along.”

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