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Mallards Game Day

February 12, 2017 - ECHL (ECHL)
Quad City Mallards News Release


QUAD CITY MALLARDS VS. ELMIRA JACKALS

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 4:05 CT

IWIRELESS CENTER

QUAD CITY

27-18-2, 56 points

3rd place, Central Division

Coach: Phil Axtell

ELMIRA

9-33-6, 24 points

6th place, North Division

Coach: Mike Duco

WATCH: ECHL.TV

LISTEN: Fox Sports Radio 1230

MALLARDS NOTES

Last Night

Chris Francis scored at 1:41 of overtime- after picking up an assist in regulation- to give the host Mallards a 3-2 victory over the Jackals and extend the Mallards' winning streak to six games.

Central

The third-place Mallards' lead over the fourth-place Tulsa Oilers in the Central Division standings expanded to three points last night with the Mallards' win and the Oilers' 4-3 overtime loss to Missouri. The Mallards also narrowed the gap between themselves and the second-place Fort Wayne Komets- who fell 4-3 in overtime to the Cyclones in Cincinnati last night- to three points. The Mallards have six games in hand on Tulsa while the Komets have one game in hand on the Mallards.

Streak

The Mallards have won six straight games for the first time since they won the final six games of the 2005-06 United Hockey League regular season between April 5 and April 15, 2006.

Dime

The Mallards last won more than six consecutive games when they ripped off a ten-game UHL winning streak between March 20 and April 10, 2004 on the way to the franchise's seventh 50-win season in eight years.

Unbeaten

By going six games without a regulation loss, the Mallards have put together their longest regulation unbeaten streak since they went 5-0-4 over nine games between November 6 and November 23, 2014.

Overtime

With last night's win the Mallards improved to 3-0 this season in games decided in overtime.

Tight

With last night's win the Mallards improved to 16-6-2 in one-goal games. The Mallards lead the ECHL in one-goal wins.

Busy

The Mallards tonight play a third game in 48 hours. This is the Mallards' fifth such stretch this season. Today they bid to secure a third win in as many days for the first time this season. The Mallards are 3-2-0 when playing for a third consecutive day and won the last two times they faced that situation. The Mallards will play three games in three nights a total of seven times this season.

Axtell

The Mallards have gone 8-2-0 in ten games since Phil Axtell took over as head coach on January 20. It was announced Thursday that Axtell will continue as Mallards head coach for at least the remainder of the season.

Red Light District

The Mallards have scored 43 goals in their ten games under Axtell- an average of 4.3 per game. By comparison, the Mallards overall this season have averaged 3.2 goals per game. The Mallards have maintained their season-long average of 3.0 goals allowed per game under Axtell by surrendering 30 goals in their last ten outings. On the season, the Mallards rank ninth in the ECHL in goals against and rank eighteenth in goals scored. Last night's sudden death game winner was the Mallards' one hundred fiftieth goal of the season. They have allowed 143 goals.

Firepower

The Mallards were held to three goals last night after scoring four or more in their prior five games. That run marked the first time the Mallards had scored at least four times in five straight games since they did so in five consecutive International Hockey League contests between April 7 and April 16, 2010. The Mallards have totaled 30 goals over their last six games for an average of five per game over that stretch. The Mallards last night scored fewer than four goals for the first time since they were beaten 5-2 by the Nailers on January 27 in Wheeling.

High Water Mark

With a win today, the Mallards would move ten games over .500 for the first time since they defeated the Mavericks 5-3 on March 30, 2014 at the iWireless Center in the finale of their last CHL season to finish that campaign 33-23-10.

For Openers

The Mallards last night jumped out to a 2-0 lead- before the Jackals rallied to force overtime with two Kenton Miller goals- for an eighth straight game. The Mallards have scored the first goal in each of their last ten games. The Mallards last failed to take a 2-0 lead on January 21 in 5-2 loss at Missouri. The Mallards last gave up the first goal on January 16 in a 5-3 loss to Tulsa.

First

The Mallards last night produced the only goal of the first period when Brady Brassart scored with just 45 seconds left in the first. The Mallards have now outscored opponents 7-0 in the opening period over their last three games, 12-1 over their last five games, 16-2 over their last six games and 20-3 over their last eight games. The first period has been the Mallards' best on the season. Brassart last night scored the Mallards' fiftieth first period goal of the season. They allowed 41 goals in the first.

Short

The Mallards won last night despite playing the final 42 minutes and 39 seconds with just 14 skaters, down from the standard 16 with which they started the game after Jack Nevins (at 9:16) and Alex Gudbranson (at 19:02) were both assessed game misconducts in the first period. The Mallards scored all three of their goals after losing Nevins and Gudbranson.

Open Ice

While the Mallards did score all three of their goals at even strength last night, all three of those goals also came with fewer than ten skaters on the ice. Brassart scored the opener late in the first period with each team reduced to four skaters due to penalties. That goal was followed- one minute and 37 seconds of game time later- by another from Michael Parks just 52 seconds in the second period during the same stretch of four-on-four play. Francis scored the game winner during 3-on-3 overtime.

Home Sweet Home

Last night's victory extended the Mallards' home winning streak to a season-best four games. This marks the first time the Mallards have won four straight home games since they did so between March 25 and April 8, 2016. The Mallards last won more than four in a row at the iWireless Center when they rolled to eight consecutive home wins between November 6 and November 29, 2015. The Mallards today complete a four-game home stand.

On the Road

The Mallards have won three straight away games. They next play on the road next Wednesday night in Cincinnati.

Parks...

With a goal last night, Parks extended his point-scoring streak to twelve games (6-9-15). Parks is the first Mallard to collect points in a dozen games in a row since Mickey Lang recorded points in 12 straight Central Hockey League contests (10-13-23) between January 2 and February 8, 2013. The last Mallard to string together a point streak longer than Parks' current run was Brandon Marino, who piled up points (11-11-22) in 13 consecutive games between February 25 and March 21, 2012 on the way to being named 2011-12 CHL Most Valuable Player. Parks' streak is also tied for fifth longest in the ECHL this season.

...and Wreck

Parks leads the Mallards and is tied for third among ECHL rookies in goals (19).

Double Down

Francis has now produced at least a goal and an assist in six straight games (7-6-13), matched an ECHL season-best by last night extending his goal-scoring streak to six games and stretched his assist streak to six games to equal the longest such ongoing streak league-wide. Francis had never in his career recorded multiple points in more than three straight games- most recently between March 24 and March 28, 2015 with the ECHL's Las Vegas Wranglers- before his current hot streak.

Sudden Death

Last night's overtime goal was the third of Francis' career and his first since he scored at 2:12 of sudden death to give the Alaska Aces in a 4-3 win over the Utah Grizzlies on February 20, 2015 in Anchorage. He scored his first career overtime goal against Alaska at 4:51 of the extra period to give the Wranglers a 3-2 victory on February 2, 2013 in Las Vegas. Francis ended last night's game after starting the scoring each of the Mallards prior two games and three of their previous four and scoring in the first period in each of their prior five contests.

Welcome Aboard

Josh MacDonald has recorded two points in each of his first two games with the Mallards since being acquired Monday in a trade with Rapid City that sent Mike Monfredo and future considerations to the Rush. MacDonald picked up a pair of assists last night- including one on Francis' game winner- after scoring and adding an assist while making his Mallard debut in Friday night's 4-0 victory over Kalamazoo.

On the Plus Side

Kevin Gibson has climbed to second place in the ECHL in plus/minus rating (+29) by posting a +12 over his last eight games. Gibson, who did see his six-game point-scoring streak (1-7-8) end last night, is now just a single "plus" behind ECHL plus/minus leader Michael Kirkpatrick (+30) of the Florida Everblades.

Helping Hand

After assisting on Francis' sudden death winner last night, Andrew Panzarella has now recorded five assists in his last four games.

Between the Pipes

C.J. Motte last night made 16 saves on the way to his third straight win. Motte ranks third in the ECHL in save percentage (.920), ranks fifth in goals against average (2.54) and is tied for ninth in wins (14). Adam Vay is on a team season-best six-game winning streak. (2.80, .914, 1 SO).

Milestones

Mike Wilson has 198 career regular season assists...Brady Brassart has played 194 career games...Chris Francis has scored 94 career ECHL goals

Power Play

The Mallards last night went 0-for-5 on the power play after matching a season high by scoring twice on the man advantage (on five chances) in Friday night's win over Kalamazoo. The Mallards rank twenty-fifth in the ECHL on the power play (13.0 percent).

Penalty Kill

The Jackals last night converted for the first time on their fifth and final power play when Miller tied the game at two on the advantage at 7:41 of the third period. The Mallards have survived 18 of their opponents' last 20 power plays. The Mallards rank seventeenth in the league in penalty killing (81.6 percent).

Head-to-Head

The Mallards and Jackals today meet for the second time in 24 hours to wrap up their brief two-game season series. While the Mallards can complete a sweep with a victory today, the Jackals can still win the weekend/season series should they defeat the Mallards in regulation today after earning one point for last night's overtime loss. The Mallards and Jackals last night met for the first time in the ECHL after competing against each other in the UHL between 2000 and 2007. The Mallards went 12-4-4 in 20 games against Elmira over those seven seasons and posted a 6-2-2 record in ten home games against the Jackals. Last night's game was the first meeting between the two teams in just under a decade since the Mallards won their last UHL match-up with the Jackals 6-1 on home ice on February 18, 2007.

Ins and Outs

Forward Alex Petan returned to the Mallards yesterday after being released from a professional tryout agreement by Iowa (AHL). Petan signed a PTO with Iowa on February 1...Forward Pavel Jenys has missed the Mallards' last two games (upper body injury) ...Defenseman Mike Wilson has missed the Mallards' last 24 games (upper body injury).

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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