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Mallards Weekly Update: December 19, 2016

December 19, 2016 - ECHL (ECHL)
Quad City Mallards News Release


MALLARDS WEEKLY UPDATE: DECEMBER 19, 2016

THIS WEEK

Wednesday, December 21, 6:35 p.m.

iWireless Center

Fort Wayne Komets vs. Quad City Mallards

Friday, December 23, 7:05 p.m.

iWireless Center

Tulsa Oilers vs. Quad City Mallards

Quad City

15-8-2, 32 points

4th place, Central Division

Coach: Terry Ruskowski

Fort Wayne

15-7-3, 33 points

3rd place, Central Division

Coach: Gary Graham

Tulsa

16-10-2, 34 points

2nd place, Central Division

Coach: Jason Christie

LAST WEEK

Saturday, December 17

Quad City 6 Indy 2

Sunday, December 18

Quad City 5 Kalamazoo 4 (SO)

QUACK TRACKS

Streak

The Mallards have won their last four games- all on the road- to match their longest winning streak of the season. The Mallards previously won four in a row between October 21 and October 29.

The Undefeated

The Mallards are unbeaten in regulation (4-0-1) in their last five games- their longest regulation unbeaten streak of the season.

Back-to-Back

The Mallards won twice in 24 hours last weekend. The Mallards rolled past the Indy Fuel 6-2 Saturday night before battling back for a 5-4 shootout win yesterday in Kalamazoo.

Tight

The Mallards this week host the two teams immediately ahead of them in the Central Division standings. The Mallards are just one point behind third-place Fort Wayne heading into Wednesday night's meeting with the Komets. Friday night, the Mallards meet the second-place Tulsa Oilers, who are just two points ahead of the Flock.

Rescheduled

Wednesday night's game between the Mallards and Komets was originally slated for March 3 before being rescheduled.

Upswing

The Mallards have suffered just one regulation loss in their last seven games (5-1-1) and just two in their last 11 games (8-2-1).

Working Overtime

The Mallards have gone to overtime in four of their last five games. They have won three of those four overtime contests. They have won twice in sudden death and split a pair of shootout decisions during that stretch.

Shootout

Justin Kovacs yesterday in Kalamazoo scored the only shootout goal as the Mallards improved to 2-2 in the shootout this season.

Central

Wednesday's game against the Komets will be the third of five straight against Central Division opponents for the Mallards. The Mallards have started that stretch 2-0-0 and have gone 8-4-1 against division foes on the season.

Rally

The Mallards have come from behind to win in each of their last four games and have won after surrendering the first goal in each of their last three games. The Mallards yesterday in Kalamazoo twice trailed by two before battling back- and getting a tying goal from Michael Parks with 2:25 left in regulation- en route to their seventh comeback victory of the season.

Home Sweet Home

By the time the puck drops between the Mallards and Fort Wayne Komets Wednesday night at the iWireless Center, the Mallards will have played just one home game in the prior 26 days. Wednesday's game will be the Mallards' first on home ice since they suffered a 3-2 shootout loss to Kalamazoo on December 7.

On the Road

Yesterday's victory in Kalamazoo was the Mallards' fourth straight road game (and fourth consecutive road win), eighth away game in their last nine and sixteenth road contest in their first 25 games. The Mallards boast a better record on the road (11-5-0) than at home (4-3-2).

Scrooges

The Mallards lead the ECHL in goals against per game (2.7). Yesterday marked just the fifth time in 25 games this season the Mallards have allowed more than three goals in a game. The Mallards have held foes to two goals or fewer in regulation 13 times.

Red Light District

The Mallards have scored four or more goals in each of their last four games and last Saturday in Indianapolis matched a team season high by scoring six times. Their recent offensive exploits have raised the Mallards' season average to 3.1 goals per game and lifted the Flock to sixteenth in the league in goal-scoring.

Streaking

Kevin Gibson is on an eight-game point-scoring streak (1-9-10) and a seven-game assist streak (nine assists). Both streaks are Mallard season bests. They are also the longest such streaks of Gibson's career. The ten points Gibson has recorded over his last eight games matches the total he produced in his entire career- 65 games- before embarking upon that hot streak.

On the Plus Side

Gibson has posted a plus/minus rating of +13 over his last eight games to climb into a tie for fifth in the ECHL in plus/minus at +16 on the season

Rook Roll

Nolan LaPorte is on a five-game point-scoring streak (2-4-6). The rookie has piled up 12 points (four goals and eight assists) in his last ten games after collecting just five points (one goal and four assists) in his first 14 games.

Parks and Wreck

Parks has scored four times in his last three games and has collected points in each of his last four games (4-2-6). By scoring twice yesterday, Parks took over the Mallard lead in goals (10). He has totaled ten points- including seven goals- in his last ten games.

Triple Threat

Each member of the reunited line of Sam Warning, Justin Kovacs and Alex Petan piled up four points over the Mallards' two weekend victories. Warning and Kovacs collected one goal and three assists apiece while Petan, who scored twice yesterday, had three goals and one assist. Warning (24), Kovacs (22) and Petan (19) are the Mallards' top three point scorers.

Between the Pipes

C.J. Motte leads the ECHL in goals against average (2.08) and save percentage (.937) and is tied for sixth in wins (10). Motte has won five of his last six starts. He has not allowed more than three goals in any of his 14 appearances.

Milestones

Mike Monfredo ranks sixth in Mallards history in career games played (297). If he dresses for each of the Mallards' next three games, he will play his three hundredth game for the team on December 30 against Missouri...Chris Francis has scored 99 career goals in 397 career games...Mike Wilson has 198 career regular season assists...Donnie Harris has played 297 career games... Justin Kovacs has played 96 career games.

Special Teams

LaPorte's power play goal 30 seconds into the third period Saturday night in Indianapolis ended the Mallards' 0-for-28 man advantage drought. LaPorte's goal was the Mallards first on the power play since Francis scored on the man advantage at 16:08 of the first period of the Mallards' 4-2 win in Cincinnati on November 23. After yesterday getting a second power play goal- from Petan- in as many games, the Mallards now rank sixteenth in the ECHL (16.3 percent) on the man advantage. The Mallards have, however, allowed third period shorthanded goals in each of their last three games and have surrendered five shorthanded goals on the season. The Mallards went 9-for-9 on the penalty kill over the weekend to climb into a tie for fifth in the league in penalty killing (86.4 percent).

Head-to-Head

The Mallards won their last meeting with the Komets 6-2 on November 26 in Fort Wayne after losing each of the first three games of the 12-game season series between the two teams. The Komets Wednesday night return to the iWireless Center for the first time since handing the Mallards a 6-2 season-opening defeat on October 14. All-time, the Mallards have gone 51-52-11 against Fort Wayne...Friday night's game is the second of three this season between the Mallards and Oilers. Each of those three games will be played at the iWireless Center. The Mallards won the season series opener 3-2 on October 29. All-time, the Mallards have gone 16-13-0 against Tulsa overall and 11-6-0 at home.

Ins and Outs

Forward Nathan Todd was removed from the active roster and placed on the Mallards' suspended list last Thursday... Defenseman Donnie Harris has missed the Mallards' last 11 games after being placed on 21-day injured reserve retroactive to November 20 (upper body injury)

UPCOMING HOME GAMES

Wednesday, December 21, 6:35 p.m.- Mallards vs. Fort Wayne Komets

Early Faceoff

All Wednesday night home games this season will start at the special early faceoff time of 6:35 p.m.

Rescheduled

This game was originally slated to be played March 3 before being rescheduled.

Friday, December 23, 7:05 p.m.- Mallards vs. Tulsa Oilers

$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.

Mallards Scratch Cards

The first 1,500 fans through the doors will receive free holiday scratch cards with winners taking home an array of prizes from the Mallards.

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 coach Terry Ruskowski and 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 .



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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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