Mallards Game Day

March 19, 2017 - ECHL (ECHL)
Quad City Mallards News Release


MALLARDS GAME DAY

QUAD CITY MALLARDS VS. INDY FUEL

SUNDAY, MARCH 19, 2:05 CT

INDIANA FARMERS COLISEUM

QUAD CITY

35-23-4, 74 points

3rd place, Central Division

Coach: Phil Axtell

INDY

17-39-6, 40 points

tied 6th place, Central Division

Coach: Bernie John

WATCH: ECHL.TV

LISTEN: Fox Sports Radio 1230

MALLARDS NOTES

Last Night

Adam Vay made 32 saves and five different Mallards scored as the host Mallards shut out the Missouri Mavericks 5-0.

Closing In

The Mallards can clinch a playoff berth today if they win or lose in overtime or a shootout or if the Tulsa Oilers lose to the Toledo Walleye. The Mallards' win combined with Tulsa's loss to Toledo last night to reduce the Mallards' magic number for clinching a postseason spot to one. The top four finishers in each division qualify for the Kelly Cup playoffs.

Central

The third-place Mallards are four points ahead of the fourth-place Kalamazoo Wings in the Central Division standings. The Mallards have two games in hand on the Wings, who defeated the Fuel 5-1 last night.

Playoffs

The Mallards are on the verge of reaching the playoffs for the third time in as many seasons since entering the ECHL, for the fifth year in a row including their final two Central Hockey League campaigns and for the sixth time in the last seven years.

Blanked

Last night's shutout was Vay's and the Mallards' third of the season.

Sweep

The Mallards last night completed a two-game sweep of the Mavericks. The Mallards opened the weekend by defeating Missouri 3-2 Friday.

Unbeaten

The Mallards are unbeaten in regulation (2-0-1) in their last three games.

Upswing

The Mallards have endured just one regulation loss in their last eight games (5-1-2).

Axtell

The Mallards have gone 16-7-2 in 25 games since Phil Axtell took over as head coach on January 20.

High-Water Mark

Last night's win lifted the Mallards to 12 games over .500 for the first time since February 16, 2014 when a 5-2 CHL loss in Missouri left them with a record of 24-12-8.

Stretch Run

The Mallards have five home games and five away games remaining.

Busy

Today's game is the Mallards' fourth in five days and their third in 48 hours. The Mallards today play a third game in as many days for the eighth and final time this season. They have gone 5-2 when playing for the third time in three days and have won each of the last four times they have done so.

Home Sweet Home

The Mallards have established a team season best by going unbeaten in regulation (4-0-2) in their last six home games. With last night's win the Mallards eclipsed the five-game home regulation unbeaten streak they put together by winning five straight games on home ice between January 20 and February 12. The Mallards last fell in regulation at the iWireless Center when they were beaten 4-2 by Kalamazoo on February 24.

For Openers

The Mallards have scored the first goal in each of their last five games and in eight of their last nine.

First Period

The Mallards have outscored opponents 13-4 in the first period over their last nine games. The first period has been the Mallards' best overall this season. They have outscored foes 68-51 in the first over 62 games.

Red Light District

The Mallards rank sixth in the ECHL in goals against (2.9 per game) and seventeenth in goal-scoring (3.2).

Nickel

The Mallards last night matched their largest margin of victory this season. The Mallards have won by five goals four times.

Balance

Sam Warning, Chase Lang, Justin Kovacs, Guillaume Gelinas and Andrew Panzarella scored the Mallard goals last night. Warning, Lang, Kovacs and Gelinas also picked up an assist apiece.

Perfect Ten

Kovacs has piled up 13 points (three goals and 10 assists) in his last eight games.

On the Plus Side

Kevin Gibson ranks fourth in the ECHL in plus/minus rating (plus-31). Mike Wilson has posted a plus-11 in his last six games.

Shutout

Last night's shutout was Vay's second in four starts over the last nine days and his third in his last ten starts. Vay posted his second whitewashing of the season by stopping 22 Nailer shots on March 10 in the Mallards' 3-0 victory in Wheeling. He made 31 saves to notch his first ECHL shutout when the Mallards defeated the Wings 4-0 on February 10. Vay is now tied for fourth in ECHL in shutouts. He is the first Mallard goaltender to record three shutouts in one season since Thomas Heemskerk and Ty Rimmer both did so during the 2013-14 CHL campaign.

Between the Pipes

Vay made 61 saves on 63 Maverick shots over the last two nights while backstopping the Mallards to back-to-back wins. Vay is tied for tenth in the EHCL in wins (18). C.J. Motte, who has suffered just one regulation defeat in his last nine games (6-1-2), is tied for third in the ECHL in save percentage (.918) and ranks sixth in goals against average (2.59).

Milestones

Chris Francis has scored 98 career ECHL goals...Guillaume Gelinas has played 94 career games.

Special Teams

Kovacs scored on the power play last night to end a 0-for-19 Mallard man advantage drought. The Mallards rank twenty-sixth in the ECHL on the power play (12.6 percent) and are tied for fifteenth in penalty killing (82.1 percent).

Head-to-Head

The Mallards have gone 7-1-0 against the Fuel this season and have gone 4-0-0 in Indianapolis. The Mallards have outscored the Fuel 38-18 over the season series and 18-4 while winning their last three games against Indy. The Mallards and Fuel meet for the tenth and final time this season April 4 in Indianapolis. All-time, the Mallards have gone 10-8-0 overall against the Fuel and have gone 4-5-0 at Indiana Farmers Coliseum.

Ins and Outs

Defenseman Guillaume Gelinas returned to the lineup last night after missing the Mallards' prior two games (upper body injury)...The Mallards Friday signed forward Shane Sooth to a standard player contract...Forward Pavel Jenys has missed the Mallards' last 17 games (upper body injury)...Goaltender C.J. Motte returned to the Mallards Monday after being released from a professional tryout agreement by Chicago (AHL).

- ## Quad City Mallards ##-



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