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Mallards Game Day

December 24, 2017 - ECHL (ECHL)
Quad City Mallards News Release


MALLARDS GAME DAY

QUAD CITY MALLARDS VS. FORT WAYNE KOMETS

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 23, 6:35 CT

ALLEN COUNTY WAR MEMORIAL COLISEUM

QUAD CITY

8-16-2, 18 points

7th place, Central Division

Coach: Phil Axtell

FORT WAYNE

16-7-2, 34 points

2nd place, Central Division

Coach: Gary Graham

WATCH: ECHL.TV

LISTEN: Fox Sports Radio 1230

MALLARDS NOTES

Last Night

Justin Vaive ripped off a first period hat trick and the Cincinnati Cyclones- who would later strike for a pair of shorthanded goals- staved off the host Mallards' comeback bid on the way to a 7-4 victory Friday night.

Seven

Last night's loss extended the Mallards regulation winless streak to seven games. The Mallards have gone 0-6-1 since defeating the Mavericks 5-3 on December 2 in Kansas City.

Third

The Mallards have gone seven games without a win for the third time in team history. They first endured such a stretch when they went 0-6-1 between February 21 and March 15, 1996 while playing the Colonial Hockey League. They also went 0-6-1 between October 24 and November 14, 2009 while in the International Hockey League.

Central

The Mallards have gone 2-7-1 over the first ten games of a run of 14 straight and 20 of 21 against division opponents.

You Again

This game is the fifth of seven straight for the Mallards against either the Cyclones (four) or Komets (three). The Mallards and Komets tonight meet for the second time in four days after Fort Wayne won 5-4 in overtime Wednesday night at the TaxSlayer Center. The Mallards and Komets collide again a week from tonight in Moline.

Highs

The Mallards matched season highs by allowing seven goals in last night's game and four goals in the first period of that contest. They first surrendered seven on November 4 in a 7-1 defeat in Fort Wayne. They have now given up four goals in one period three times.

Red Light District

The Mallards have scored four goals in back-to-back games for the first time this season. The Mallards rank twenty-seventh in the ECHL in goals per game (2.4).

On the Road

The Mallards have lost five straight away games since their December 2 victory in Kansas City. They are one road defeat away from matching the team record for longest road regulation losing streak set when they dropped six consecutive away games between November 5 and December 10, 2004.

Home Cooking

The Mallards are winless (0-3-2) in their last five home games. They last won at home when they defeated the Indy Fuel 2-1 in overtime on November 12. This marks the fourth time in club history the Mallards have gone winless over five home games. Prior to their current drought, the Mallards last did so when they went 0-3-2 between February 18 and February 26, 2006 in the United Hockey League.

Rapid Fire

The Cyclones scored their first two goals 14 seconds apart in the first period last night and then produced their third and fourth goals in a span of 26 seconds later in the first. Vaive opened the scoring on a two-man advantage at 4:48 and Winston Day Chief doubled the lead with the Cyclones up 5-on-4 at 5:02. Vaive then completed his hat trick by scoring at 11:29 and again at 11:55.

Close Call

The Mallards last night battled back from a 5-1 deficit to cut Cincinnati's lead to 5-4 in the third period, but could not complete the comeback.

Response

The Mallards twice pulled within one after falling behind last night only for the Cyclones to respond by scoring under a minute later on each occasion. After Josh MacDonald cut the Cincinnati lead to 2-1 at 11:02 of the first period, Vaive made it 3-1 just 27 seconds later (and scored again 53 seconds after MacDonald's goal). Kenney Morrison's power play goal reduced the Cyclone advantage to 5-4 at 9:19 of the third period but Cincinnati's Justin Danforth waited just 55 seconds before replying with a shorthanded insurance goal.

Shooting Gallery

The Mallards fell last night despite outshooting the Cyclones 38-32. The Mallards matched a season best for fewest shots allowed in one period while outshooting Cincinnati 16-6 in the third.

Outside the Box

The Mallards average the fewest penalty minutes (8.8) per game in the ECHL.

Mac Attack

MacDonald last night scored twice and added an assist to match Mallard season highs for goals and points in one game. He joined Sam Warning- who provided a pair in a 5-3 win over Indy on November 11- as the second Mallard to score two goals in one game this season. Before last night only Keegan Kolesar- who had a goal and two assists on October 14 in a 5-4 victory over the Tulsa Oilers- had produced three points in one game for the Mallards this year. MacDonald has piled up five points (three goals and two assists) in his last two games.

First

The goal Morrison scored last night was his first in the ECHL. The defenseman played the first 115 games of his career in the American Hockey League before being loaned to the Mallards by the AHL's Chicago Wolves on December 13.

Double Down

Greg Amlong last night picked up two assists for the second time in as many games after notching just one assist in his prior seventeen games.

Captain

Chris Francis last night scored his third goal in seven games since returning from an offseason upper body injury.

Warning Sign

By setting up Francis' goal last night, Sam Warning lifted his team-leading point total to 21 with his third point in as many games.

Helping Hand

Willie Raskob (1-17-18) picked up an assist last night and is now tied for second among rookies in assists and is tied for sixth among defensemen.

Between the Pipes

Eric Hartzell last night gave up four goals on ten Cyclone shots before being replaced by Matt O'Connor at 11:55 of the first period. O'Connor allowed three goals and made 19 saves over the final 48 minutes, five seconds of the game and was tagged with the loss.

Milestones

Tristan King has 94 career goals.

Shorties

The Mallards last night allowed two shorthanded goals in one game for the second time this season. The Mallards were on the power play when, just 22 seconds into the second period, Rob De Fulviis gave the Cyclones their largest lead of the night by making it 5-1 with what would prove to be the game winning goal. Danforth then scored the vital third period insurance goal while the Cyclones were again down a man. The Mallards first gave up two shorthanded goals in the same contest on December 9 in a 5-3 loss to the Komets in Fort Wayne.

Even Up

The Mallards and Cyclones last night both scored three even strength goals but Cincinnati had a 4-1 edge in special teams goals.

Special Teams

The Mallards went 1-for-4 on the power play last night and have scored power play goals in each of their last two games. The Mallards' foes have converted three of their last four power plays. The Cyclones cashed in their first two man advantages last night and finished the game 2-for-3 after the Komets went 1-for-1 on the power play against the Mallards Wednesday night. The Mallards rank fifteenth in the ECHL on the power play (16.5 percent) and twenty-second in penalty killing (80.8 percent).

Head to Head

The Mallards have gone 0-2-1 against the Komets this season. The Mallards have gone 0-2-0 at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. They will face the Komets nine times this year. The Mallards have gone 54-59-12 all-time against the Komets.

Ins and Outs

Goaltender Matt O'Connor was reassigned to the Mallards from Milwaukee (AHL) by Nashville (NHL) Wednesday...The Mallards Tuesday signed forward Triston Grant to a standard player contract...The Mallards Tuesday traded forward Garrett Klotz to the Jacksonville IceMen in exchange for financial considerations.

- ## Quad City Mallards ##-

-- Brian Lavelle

Director of Communications and Broadcasting

Quad City Mallards

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Proud ECHL affiliate of Vegas Golden Knights and Chicago Wolves

O: 309-277-1344

C: 309-721-0732

F: 309-277-1362

www.myqcmallards.net

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