Fort Wayne Rallies Past Mallards in O.T.

February 28, 2012 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Quad City Mallards News Release


MOLINE, Ill. (February 28, 2012) - Artem Podshendyalov scored at 3:02 of overtime to give the Fort Wayne Komets a 3-2 come-from-behind win over the host Quad City Mallards Tuesday night. With the sudden death loss- for which they did earn one point- the Mallards, who are in fifth place in the Central Hockey League's Turner Conference, went to 29-22-2 (60 points) on the season.

Podshendyalov pounced on a rebound to score the game winner and complete the Komets' rally from a 2-0 deficit.

"We had a team down 2-0, we had a game plan, we executed the game plan in the first period but started to slip and [the Komets] capitalized," said Mallards coach and general manager David Bell. "[The Komets], as the veteran team they are, just slowly took the momentum and slowly took the game over and we just couldn't reel it back in."

Overtime proved necessary after Fort Wayne's Jean-Michel Rizk cut across the Mallard goalmouth to tie the game at two at 9:39 of the third period.

The Komets first got on the scoreboard during a power play when Stephon Thorne- who also had an assist- backhanded the puck home from close range at 12:29 of the second period.

The Komets found themselves in need of a comeback after the Mallards struck twice in the first period. Jared Brown's wraparound gave Quad City a 1-0 lead at 12:46 of the first. With just 1:15 left in the opening period Justin Chwedoruk finished off a 2-on-1 give-and-go with Brandon Marino to double the Quad City advantage.

The assist was Marino's fortieth of season and lifted him to 72 points for the campaign- he trails only Evansville's Todd Robinson (78) in the league point-scoring race. Brown collected the secondary assist on Chwedoruk's goal and thus had a hand in both Mallard goals.

The Mallards visit the Bloomington Blaze Thursday night before returning to action on home ice Friday night at 7:05 p.m. against the Komets. Friday evening is Report Card Night- s tudents who earn an "A" or an equivalent on their report cards or present a letter from a teacher or administrator indicating academic success, can get a free ticket to that game. Students can get their free ticket at the Mallards' front office or from the i wireless Center box office. Students in grades K through 12 are eligible for this offer. One free ticket is available per student.

Single game tickets for all Mallards regular season home contests- including Friday night's game- are now available. Fans can contact the Mallards at (309) 277-1364 or tickets@myqcmallards.com for more information about tickets.

Single game tickets are also available at the i wireless Center box office, at Ticketmaster outlets, through www.ticketmaster.com or through Ticketmaster charge-by-phone toll free. The box office is open weekdays from 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and on game days from 10:00 a.m. until the start of the second period. Individual game tickets are available for $12 in the upper level and $17 in the lower level and $25 for the first row along the glass for adults. Tickets for kids 12 and under are available for $5 off adult rates. In addition, tickets are available to military personnel for $2 off the regular adult rate.



Central Hockey League Stories from February 28, 2012


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