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Mallards Weekly Update: April 3, 2017

April 3, 2017 - ECHL (ECHL)
Quad City Mallards News Release


MALLARDS WEEKLY UPDATE: APRIL 3, 2017

THIS WEEK

Tuesday, April 4, 6:05 p.m.

Indiana Farmers Coliseum

Quad City Mallards vs. Indy Fuel

Friday, March 7, 7:05 p.m.

iWireless Center

Fort Wayne Komets vs. Quad City Mallards

Saturday, April 8, 6:30 p.m.

Allen County War Memorial Coliseum

Quad City Mallards vs. Fort Wayne Komets

Quad City

40-25-4, 84 points

3rd place, Central Division

Coach: Phil Axtell

Indy

22-40-7, 51 points

6th place, Central Division

Coach: Bernie John

Fort Wayne

42-18-8, 92 points

2nd place, Central Division

Coach: Gary Graham

LAST WEEK

Tuesday, March 28

Quad City 4 Wichita 1

Chris Francis scored what proved to be the game winning goal and added two assists as the Mallards defeated the host Wichita Thunder 4-1 .

Friday, March 31

Alaska 4 Quad City 3

Kevin Carr made 36 saves and Peter Sivak scored and added an assist as the Alaska Aces held off a Quad City comeback bid fueled by goals from Michael Parks, Adam Gilmour and Jack Nevins to claim a 4-3 win over the host Mallards.

Saturday, April 1

Quad City 4 Alaska 2

Justin Kovacs scored twice and Adam Vay made 39 saves to propel the host Mallards past the Aces 4-2.

QUACK TRACKS

Playoffs

The Mallards will meet the Fort Wayne Komets in the opening round of the ECHL Kelly Cup playoffs. The Mallards will open the in the best-of-seven Central Division semifinals April 14 in Fort Wayne.

Playoff Preview

This weekend's home-and-home between the Mallards and Komets will provide a playoff preview. If their playoff series goes seven games, the Mallards and Komets will have played a total of nine straight games against each other.

Done Deal

The Mallards' division semifinal match-up with the Komets was set Saturday night when the Mallards' win over Alaska combined with the Kalamazoo Wings' loss to the Florida Everblades to lock up the third seed in the division for the Mallards and consign Kalamazoo to fourth place. The second-place Komets' hopes of overtaking the Toledo Walleye atop the Central ended Saturday evening even though Fort Wayne defeated the Indy Fuel in a shootout. While the Komets still have a mathematical chance of finishing the regular season tied with Toledo, that shootout victory guaranteed they would lose the tiebreaker- non-shootout wins- to the Walleye. The second-place finisher in each division faces the third-place team in the first round of the postseason, while the top team in the division meets the club that finishes fourth.

History

The Mallards and Komets are set for their fourth all-time playoff meeting and their first in 14 years. The two clubs last met in the postseason when the Komets defeated the Mallards four games to one in the 2003 United Hockey League Colonial Cup finals. The Mallards took back-to-back UHL semifinal series from Fort Wayne in 2000 and 2001. The Mallards swept the Komets in three games in 2001 after winning the first ever postseason match-up between the clubs four games to one the prior year.

Finishing Kick

The Mallards have won five of their last six games, gone 7-2-0 in their last nine and have suffered just three regulation losses (10-3-2) in their last 15.

Splitsville

The Mallards split their two-game weekend series with the Aces by rebounding from Friday's loss with a win the following evening in the last ever regular season meeting between the two clubs.

Streak

The Aces Friday halted the Mallards' four-game winning streak. That run was tied for the Mallards' second longest winning streak of the season. Friday's defeat was the Mallards' first loss since they fell to the Fuel 8-7 on March 19 in Indianapolis.

40

The Mallards Saturday reached 40 victories for the first time since they finished the 2005-06 UHL season 41-27-8.

84

By going 40-25-4 so far this season, the Mallards have totaled 84 points, the most they have collected since they finished the 2006-07 UHL campaign with 85.

.600

The Mallards' winning percentage stands at .609. The Mallards last finished with a winning percentage of .600 or better in 2003-04 when they ended the UHL season at .697.

High-Water Mark

The Mallards are 15 games over .500. They last finished a season more than 15 games over .500 when they went 50-20-6 in 2003-04.

Axtell

The Mallards have gone 21-9-2 in 32 games since Phil Axtell took over as head coach on January 20.

March

The Mallards went 8-3-2 in March, making it their second eight-win month of the season after they went 8-4-1 in December.

Tight

The Mallards have gone 22-10-4 in one-goal games this season. They lead the ECHL in one-goal victories and one-goal games played (36).

Bring the Thunder

Tuesday's win was the Mallards' third over the Thunder in seven days. The Mallards swept their four-game season series with Wichita.

Home Sweet Home

With Saturday's victory, the Mallards reached 20 home wins for the second season in a row. The Mallards have gone 20-11-4 at home this season after posting a 22-12-2 home record last year. While Friday's loss halted the Mallards' four-game home winning streak and eight-game home regulation unbeaten streak, the Mallards have now won five of their last six home games and have suffered just one regulation loss in their last ten (7-1-2).

On the Road

Tuesday's victory in Wichita was the Mallards twentieth away win. The Mallards have gone 20-14-0 on the road this season.

Red Light District

The Mallards rank sixth in the ECHL in goals against (2.9 per game) and are tied for fourteenth in goal-scoring (3.3 per game).

Wilson!

Mike Wilson today was named the AMI Graphics ECHL Plus Performer of the Month for March after leading the league with a plus-minus rating of plus-15 last month.

Perfect 10

Kovacs has 11 points (five goals and six assists) in his last six games and 22 points in his last 13 games (seven goals and 15 assists).

Parks and Wreck

Parks has scored six goals (and added one assist) in his last six games. He has scored more goals (29) than any Mallard since Mickey Lang scored 41 times in 2012-13 in the Central Hockey League. Parks ranks second among ECHL rookies in goals and fifth in points (55).

26

Francis matched a career high when he scored his twenty-sixth goal of the season Saturday. Francis first scored 26 goals for the Alaska Aces in 2014-15. He has recorded five points (two goals and three assists) in his last three games and 13 points (five goals and eight assists) in his last 11 games.

On the Plus Side

Kevin Gibson is tied for third in the ECHL in plus/minus rating (plus-34) and Nolan LaPorte is tied for eighth (plus-28).

Between the Pipes

C.J. Motte and Adam Vay both reached 20 goaltending wins last week. Motte stopped 30 Wichita shots on the way to his twentieth victory Tuesday before signing a professional tryout agreement with the American Hockey League's Iowa Wild Thursday. Adam Vay made 39 saves Saturday to earn his twentieth win against Alaska. Motte is unbeaten in regulation- 4-0-2- in his last six decisions over seven games and suffered just one regulation loss in his final 12 games before heading to the AHL, a run during which he went 8-1-2. Motte is tied for third in the ECHL in save percentage (.917), ranks eighth in goals against average (2.64) and is tied for ninth in wins. Vay is tied for sixth in shutouts (3) and tied for ninth in wins.

Debut

Forward Kyle Novak made his professional debut Tuesday and then recorded his first career point by picking up an assist Saturday in his third game with the Mallards. Novak signed a standard player contract with the Mallards March 26 after completing his college career at Western Michigan on March 24.

Debut Too

Defenseman Chris Leibinger made his professional debut Friday. Leibinger signed a standard player contract with the Mallards Thursday after completing his college career at Michigan Tech on March 25.

100

Guillaume Gelinas Friday played his one hundredth career ECHL game.

Milestones

Andrew Panzarella has played 98 career games and 96 ECHL games...Chris Francis has 296 career points.

Special Teams

The Mallards have killed off their opponents' last ten man advantages and 23 of their foes' last 24 power plays. The Mallards rank tenth in the ECHL in penalty killing (83.1 percent) and twenty-sixth on the power play (12.4 percent).

Head-to-Head

The Mallards have gone 7-2-0 against the Fuel this season and have gone 4-1-0 in Indianapolis. Indy's wild 8-7 win on March 19 halted the Mallards' three-game overall winning streak against the Fuel and four-game winning streak at Indiana Farmers Coliseum. All-time, the Mallards have gone 10-9-0 overall against the Fuel and have gone 4-6-0 on the road against Indy... The Mallards have gone 4-6-0 against Fort Wayne this season: 2-3-0 at home and 2-3-0 on the road. All-time, the Mallards have gone 54-55-11 against Fort Wayne.

Ins and Outs

Forward Alex Petan returned to the Mallards' lineup Saturday after missing Friday's game (lower body injury)...Forward Brady Brassart missed Saturday's game (lower body injury)...Forward Grant Arnold has missed the Mallards' last two games (lower body injury)...Defenseman Chris Leibinger made his professional debut Friday after signing a standard player contract with the Mallards Thursday...Goaltender C.J. Motte Thursday signed a professional tryout agreement with Iowa (AHL)...Forward Chase Lang Thursday was recalled from the Mallards by Iowa (AHL)...The Mallards Thursday signed Jake Reed as an emergency backup goaltender...Forward Kyle Novak made his professional debut Tuesday after signing a standard player contract with the Mallards Monday...Forward Josh MacDonald has missed the Mallards' last four games (lower body injury)...Forward Pavel Jenys has missed the Mallards' last 24 games (upper body injury).

NEXT HOME GAME

Friday, April 1, 7:05 p.m.- Mallards vs. Fort Wayne Komets

Twentieth Season Throwback Jersey Auction

The twentieth season throwback jerseys worn by the Mallards in select games throughout the season will be auctioned off after Friday's game. Winning bidders will receive their jerseys after the end of the Mallards' playoff run.

$2 Dogs/$2 Beers presented by 97X

Fans can enjoy $2 hot dogs and beers from iWireless Center concession stands during every Friday home game.

MetroLINK College Night

The Mallards have partnered with Metro to provide transit service between Augustana College and downtown Moline during all Friday home games. As part of Metro's unlimited ride program, Augustana Riders can use their Augustana ID as their fare.

ON THE AIR

Fox Sports Radio 1230 is the radio home of Mallards Hockey Presented by Genesis Power Sports Performance. Mallards games broadcast on AM 1230 also stream live online at www.wfxn.net . A limited number of Mallards games will not air on Fox Sports Radio 1230 due to conflicts with University of Illinois basketball and football and Green Bay Packer football. ECHL-TV pay-per-view video webcasts and free audio webcasts of all Mallards games are also available at myqcmallards.net .

MOBILE

The Mallards' official mobile app is now available free for both Apple and Android. The app features a wide array of exclusive content, including behind the scenes video, breaking news and scoring alerts, interviews and video messages from Mallards players, instant access to live scores, stats and standings and special offers from the team and from Mallards partners.

TICKETS

Single Game Tickets

Single game tickets for all Mallards regular season contests are now available. Fans can contact the Mallards at (309) 277-1364 or info@myqcmallards.net for more information about tickets. Single game tickets are also available at the iWireless 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 2:00 p.m. and on game days from 10:00 a.m. until the start of the second period.

Group Tickets

Groups of ten or more receive savings off the walk-up price and a host of group benefits. Mallards group tickets are a great fit for youth organizations, friends, co-workers, family groups, religious groups, school functions and business events. For more group ticket information, fans can contact the Mallards at (309) 277-1364 or info@myqcmallards.net .



ECHL Stories from April 3, 2017


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