Mallards Surge Past Tulsa 6-2; Quad City Moves into Tie for Final

March 10, 2012 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Quad City Mallards News Release


MOLINE, Ill. - Justin Chwedoruk scored twice and added an assist, Brandon Marino provided a goal and two assists and David McKee made 37 saves as the host Quad City Mallards pulled away late in the third period to defeat the Tulsa Oilers 6-2 Saturday night. With the win, the Mallards improved to 34-24-2 (70 points) and moved into a three-way tie for third place and the final Turner Conference playoff spots with Rapid City and Missouri.

"It was a great team win by all 18 guys out there," said Mallards coach and general manager David Bell. "They stuck to the game plan, believed in it, got some odd man rushes and capitalized on it."

The Mallards ripped off three goals in just one minute and 55 seconds late in the third period to put Tulsa away after the Oilers' Dylan Clark had charged into the goalmouth to cut the Quad City advantage to 3-2 at 14:19 of the third.

Marino's one timer from the slot triggered the late Mallard onslaught at 15:27. Chwedoruk slammed a Marino feed in from point blank range to stretch the gap to 5-2 at 16:34. Sean Flanagan's drive from the left wing circle capped of the win at 17:22.

Marino's goal was his league-leading thirty-eighth of the season. By collecting three points, Marino, a finalist for the Central Hockey League Most Valuable Player award, reached 84 for the year. The third year Mallard has now eclipsed his combined point total for his first two seasons (82). Marino trails only league-leader Todd Robinson (88) of Evansville in the CHL point-scoring race.

The late Mallard outburst was Quad City's second run of three straight goals in as many periods. The Mallards' first three-goal run kicked off 36 seconds into the second period when Justin Hofstetter one-timed Marino's cross-ice pass home from the right wing circle to snap a scoreless deadlock.

Quad City would widen the margin to 3-0 by scoring twice in two minutes later in the second. John Snowden scored the second Mallard goal from the high slot at 13:06; at 15:06 Chwedoruk buried what proved to be the game winner from the doorstep.

Gary Steffes scored the first Tulsa goal in a goalmouth scramble at 17:41 of the second; that the Oilers scored just once in the second period was due in no small part to the efforts of McKee, who made 17 saves in the middle frame alone.

The Mallards will retire the number of Mallards great Steve Gibson and celebrate 15 seasons of Mallards hockey and all-time attendance reaching 3.5 million fans with Mallards Milestone Weekend next Friday and Saturday, March 16 and 17.

Mallards Milestone Weekend will kick off when the Mallards host the Wichita Thunder at 7:05 p.m. next Friday night. The first 2,000 fans through the doors for next Friday's tilt will receive free Mallards rally towels. After that game, fans will be able to join Mallards alumni on the ice for a post-game skate.

Gibson's number 55 will be raised to the rafters prior to the Mallards' 7:05 p.m. match-up with the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees next Saturday evening. A special autograph session featuring Mallard alumni will be held before that game in the i wireless Center lobby from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. In addition, fans attending next Saturday night's contest are encouraged to join in a "Green Out for Gibby" by wearing green to that game.

Single game tickets for all remaining Mallards regular season home contests- including next weekend's games- are 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 March 10, 2012


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