Mallards Drop Fort Worth in Shootout 3-2; Ruskowski Reaches 400 CHL Wins

March 3, 2013 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Quad City Mallards News Release


MOLINE, Ill. (March 3, 2013) - Shayne Toporowski converted the deciding penalty shot after Neil Conway made 28 saves in regulation and overtime and the host Quad City Mallards defeated the Fort Worth Brahmas in a shootout 3-2 Sunday. With the win, Mallards coach Terry Ruskowski became the fourth bench boss in league history to reach 400 Central Hockey League victories while his team climbed past the Bloomington Blaze and Arizona Sundogs into seventh place in the CHL standings and moved over .500 (25-24-6, 56 points) on the season.

The Mallards went 3-for-4 in the shootout. Mike Hellyer and Anthony Perdicaro both converted penalty shots before Toporowski provided what proved to be the winner. Conway made Toporowski's goal stand up as the difference by stopping Sy Nutkevitch on the fifth and final Fort Worth penalty shot after John Snowden and Brendon Hodge scored earlier in the shootout for the Brahmas.

A scoreless third period and overtime immediately preceded the shootout. In contrast, the opening 40 minutes had proven to be a roller coaster ride. The most explosive stretch of regulation saw the Mallards scored twice in 35 seconds early in the second period to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead. Mickey Lang scored the equalizer from the slot at 1:41 of the second; Obi Aduba put the Mallards on top at 2:16. The Brahmas bounced back to even the score at two on Taylor McReynolds's drive from the high slot at 16:30 of the middle frame.

The Brahmas had produced the only goal of the first period when Austin Mayer's centering pass was deflected home by a Mallard skate just over 13 minutes into the game.

Ruskowski joins Doug Sauter (544), Scott Muscutt (435) and Chris Stewart (415) in the CHL's 400-win club. Ruskowski piloted the Laredo Bucks to 343 wins over nine seasons and guided the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees to 32 victories last year before taking over the Mallards this season.

The Mallards return to action Friday night against the Mavericks in Missouri before heading home one night later for a 7:05 p.m. rematch with the Mavericks. The first 1,000 fans through the doors for Saturday's game will receive free Mo Mallard bobbleheads courtesy of KWQC-TV.

Tickets for Saturday's tilt- as well as seats for all remaining Mallards regular season home games- can be purchased at Ticketmaster outlets, through www.ticketmaster.com or through Ticketmaster charge-by- phone toll free at 1-800-745-3000. The ticket office is open weekdays from 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and on game days from 10:00 a.m. until the start of the second period.



Central Hockey League Stories from March 3, 2013


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