Over in America’s East Coast Hockey League, Anthony Beauregard’s red-hot streak of 17 points in 14 games for Wichita Thunder came to an end on February 27th. His sensational form prompted the league to recognise him, as he was highlighted as the ECHL’s Player of the Month winner for Feburary.
The winger picked up his 17th point in a 5-4 overtime defeat against Rapid City Rush on February 26th before the same side shut him down in a 3-2 win for the South Dakota outfit.
However, 24 hours later, Beauregard was back on the scoresheet as he was involved in all three of the Thunders goal’s, when they bounced back against Rapid City with a 3-1 victory in their third straight home match, against the same side.
After scoring twice and creating a third against the Rush, the Canadian picked up three points for a second straight match as he scored once and assisted twice in a 5-4 overtime victory against Rapid City in their fourth and final meeting of the series.
Then last Friday, Anthony lit the lamp again when he beat the Utah Grizzlies goaltender to help Wichita claim a 3-0 win and he again found the twine on Saturday, as the Thunder made it back-to-back- wins over Utah with a scoreline of 4-3.
However, the Kansas City Mavericks came to Wichita and shutout the Thunder before claiming a 1-0 win after the game was decided by penalty shots.
A visit to Tulsa Oilers is next up for Beauregard and the Thunder, as the two sides face-off this evening and former Star now has 31 points (12+19) in 30 games this season.
Meanwhile, former Stars captain, Matt Marquardt was involved his Jacksonville Icemen’s 4-1 defeat against state rivals, Orlando Solar Bears on February 28th.
Over in Europe, defenseman Shawn Boutin made his first appearance for his new club, Boras HC in the Swedish third tier.
The Canadian blueliner has now made two appearances and featured in the 2-0 defeat away to Hanhals on Sunday before getting his first win in Sweden under his belt on Tuesday, as Boras were 4-3 victors against Kalmar HC following a shootout.
Whereas in Latvia, Egils Kalns has made five appearances over the last fortnight for Liepaja and on February 25th, he collected a single assist in a 4-3 overtime and away victory against HK Olimp.
Although, he was not on the scoresheet for his hometown team on February 27th when they were 1-0 winners at home against Mogo. The winger then played in back-to-back home defeats to HK Olimp last Saturday and Sunday.
However, last night he assisted on the only goal of the night as Liepaja edged out HK Zemgale at home in a 1-0 win and Kalns will be in action again tonight as the two teams face-off again.
Whilst some teams finish their regular season schedules, others have already progressed into the playoff stages and that is the case in Slovakia, where Drydn Dow has been playing with HK Spisska Nova Ves.
On February 26th, he iced in a 3-1 regular season win at HK Spartak Dubnica and on March 3, he helped the team secure a 2-1 victory against HK Skalica.
After the 38-game season concluded, HK Spisska Nova Ves were third in the league with 73 points, just one point behind the team in second and they won 25 matches of the 38 and also 4 of their 6 matches that required extra time.
Dow was involved in Game One of the Playoff Quarter-Finals last night and Spisska were 4-0 winners at home against HK AUTORACZ Levice. Game Two will be played tonight as the best of seven series continues and as the Canadian aims for glory.
Finally, in Romania, Justin Maylan’s side, SC Csikszerda also began their post-season push with their quarter-final series against Gyergyo Hockey Club.
SC Csikszerda had finished third in the league and won 24 of their 36 matches, whilst also scoring the most goals in the league, with 171. The title was claimed by ASC Corona Brasov and two members on that team are ex-EIHL players, Cody Carlson (a former Star and Braehead Clan defender) and Carlo Finucci (a former Fife Flyer).
In 23 appearances, Maylan scored three goals and created 20 more, which was the fourth highest number of assists on his team. However, he has not yet featured in the playoffs but SC Csikszerda have already advanced to the semi-finals after winning their series against Gyergyo Hockey Club 4-1.
