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Mallards Game Day

February 15, 2017 - ECHL (ECHL)
Quad City Mallards News Release


QUAD CITY MALLARDS VS. CINCINNATI CYCLONES

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 6:35 CT

U.S. BANK ARENA

QUAD CITY

28-18-2, 58 points

3rd place, Central Division

Coach: Phil Axtell

CINCINNATI

23-22-4, 50 points

5th place, South Division

Coach: Matt MacDonald

WATCH: ECHL.TV

LISTEN: Fox Sports Radio 1230

MALLARDS NOTES

Last Game

Justin Kovacs buried the only shootout goal after also scoring in regulation and the host Mallards claimed a 4-3 shootout victory Sunday over the Elmira Jackals, who had forced overtime by twice rallying to tie the score.

Home-and-Home

Tonight's game is first of two in three nights between the Mallards and Cyclones, who will meet again Friday night in Moline.

Central

The Mallards are three points behind the second-place Fort Wayne Komets in the Central Division standings and five points ahead of the fourth-place Tulsa Oilers.

Streak

The Mallards have won seven straight games. That winning streak is the Mallards' longest since they ripped off ten straight United Hockey League victories between March 20 and April 10, 2004. The Mallards' streak is also the second longest active ECHL winning streak and is tied for the fifth longest winning streak in the league this season. The Mallards have not lost since falling 5-2 to the Nailers in Wheeling on January 27.

Axtell

The Mallards have gone 9-2-0 in 11 games since Phil Axtell took over as head coach on January 20.

Perfect Ten

With Sunday's win, the Mallards moved to ten games over .500 for the first time they finished the 2013-14 Central Hockey League season 33-23-10. The Mallards made it to ten games above break-even by defeating Missouri 5-3 on March 30, 2014 in their last ever CHL regular season game.

Unbeaten

The Mallards' current winning streak is also their longest regulation unbeaten streak since they went 5-0-4 over nine games between November 6 and November 23, 2014.

Sweep

Sunday's win was the Mallards' second victory over Elmira in 24 hours. The Mallards opened their two-game series with the Jackals by winning 3-2 in overtime last Saturday night.

Busy

The Mallards last weekend made the most of their fifth stretch this season of three games in three days by winning each of those three games. A 4-0 shutout of the Kalamazoo Wings last Friday preceded the Mallards' sweep of the Jackals. Prior to last weekend, the Mallards last won three games in 48 hours between November 27 and November 29, 2015.

Red Light District

The Mallards have scored 47 goals in their 11 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 33 goals in their last 11 outings. On the season, the Mallards rank ninth in the ECHL in goals against and eighteenth in goals scored. They have outscored opponents 154-146.

For Openers

The Mallards have jumped out to a 2-0 lead in each of their last nine games. The Mallards have scored the first goal in each of their last 11 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 have outscored opponents 9-1 in the first period over their last four games, 14-2 over their last six games, 18-3 over their last seven games and 22-4 over their last nine games. The first period has been the Mallards' best on the season. They have outscored foes 52-42 in the opening period over their first 48 games.

Shootout

Mallards improved to 5-2 in the shootout with Sunday's win.

Tight

With one-goal wins in their last two games, the Mallards have improved to 17-6-2 in one-goal games. The Mallards lead the ECHL in one-goal victories.

Capper

The Mallards have won each of the last three times they have played a third game in as many days.

Home Sweet Home

The Mallards' five-game home winning streak is their longest since they rolled to eight consecutive home wins between November 6 and November 29, 2015. The Mallards closed out a four-game homestand with Sunday's win.

On the Road

The Mallards have won three straight away games. Tonight's game is the Mallards' first road tilt since they defeated the Mavericks in Independence 6-5 on January 31.

Parks...

Michael Parks' twelve-game point-scoring streak (6-9-15) ended Sunday. Parks is the first Mallard to collect points in a dozen games in a row since Mickey Lang recorded points in 12 straight CHL contests (10-13-23) between January 2 and February 8, 2013. Parks' streak is 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 produced at least a goal and an assist in six straight games (7-6-13) before going pointless Sunday. In the process, he equaled the longest goal-scoring streak in the ECHL this season. 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 that hot streak.

Welcome Aboard

Josh MacDonald has recorded five points (one goal and four assists) in his first three games with the Mallards after being acquired last Monday in a trade with Rapid City that sent Mike Monfredo and future considerations to the Rush. MacDonald scored and added an assist in his Mallard debut last Friday against Kalamazoo and picked up a pair of assists- including one on Francis' overtime game winner- Saturday against Elmira before collecting another assist Sunday.

On the Plus Side

Kevin Gibson has taken over the ECHL lead in plus/minus rating (plus-31) by posting a plus-14 over his last nine games. Gibson registered a plus-2 Sunday to move past Michael Kirkpatrick (plus-30) of the Florida Everblades.

Between the Pipes

Adam Vay made 28 saves in regulation and overtime Sunday before stopping all three Elmira shooters in the shootout to extend his Mallard season-best winning streak to seven games (2.80, .913, 1SO). Vay has not lost since January 11 when he made 25 saves in a 3-2 Mallard setback at the hands of the Cyclones in Cincinnati. C.J. Motte ranks second in the ECHL in save percentage (.920), ranks fifth in goals against average (2.54) and is- along with Vay- among a group of goaltenders tied for tenth in the league in wins (14).

Milestones

Mike Wilson has 198 career regular season assists...Brady Brassart has played 195 career games...Chris Francis has scored 94 career ECHL goals

Power Play

The Mallards went 1-for-11 on the power play over two games against Elmira. The Mallards rank twenty-third in the ECHL on the power play (13.2 percent).

Penalty Kill

The Jackals scored all three of their goals on the power play Sunday (on five opportunities) and went 4-for-10 over two games at the iWireless Center last weekend. The Mallards rank nineteenth in the league in penalty killing (80.4 percent).

Head-to-Head

This week's home-and-home between the Mallards and Cyclones concludes the season series between the two clubs. The Mallards have gone 3-3-1 against Cincinnati this season. The Mallards have posted a 3-2-0 record at U.S. Bank Arena. All time, the Mallards have gone 8-10-2 overall against Cincinnati and 5-4-0 on the road against the Cyclones.

Ins and Outs

Forward Alex Petan signed a professional tryout agreement with Cleveland (AHL) yesterday...Alex Gudbranson was reassigned to Toronto (AHL) by Minnesota (NHL) yesterday...Forward Pavel Jenys has missed the Mallards' last three games (upper body injury)...Defenseman Mike Wilson has missed the Mallards' last 26 games (upper body injury).

- ## Quad City Mallards ##-



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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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