Sports stats

Mallards Weekly Update

March 30, 2015 - ECHL (ECHL)
Quad City Mallards News Release


THIS WEEK

Wednesday, April 1, 7:05 p.m.

iWireless Center, Moline

Brampton Beast vs. Quad City Mallards

Friday, April 3, 8:05 p.m.

Rushmore Plaza Civic Center, Rapid City

Quad City Mallards vs. Rapid City Rush

Saturday, April 4, 8:05 p.m.

Rushmore Plaza Civic Center, Rapid City

Quad City Mallards vs. Rapid City Rush

LAST WEEK

Wednesday, March 25

Quad City 5 Wichita 3

Friday, March 27

Quad City 4 Wichita 0

Sunday, March 29

Quad City 4 Missouri 3 (SO)

Quad City

34-27-7, 75 points

3rd place, Central Division

Coach: Terry Ruskowski

Brampton

21-41-3, 45 points

7th place, Central Division

Coach: Brent Hughes

Rapid City

36-26-5, 77 points

2nd place, Central Division

Coach: Joe Ferras

QUACK TRACKS

Magic Number

The Mallards' magic number for clinching a playoff spot is four. Any combination of standing points earned by the third place Mallards or available points the fifth place Wichita Thunder fail to collect totaling four will result in the Mallards locking up a postseason berth. The top four finishers in each division reach the Kelly Cup playoffs. The Mallards will secure a place in the playoffs Wednesday night if they defeat Brampton and Wichita falls to Allen in regulation.

Streaking

The Mallards won three straight games last week to close in on a playoff spot and match their longest winning streak of the season. This marks the fifth time this season the Mallards have won three straight games. They have not won four in a row since the final four games of last season.

Tight

The Mallards entered last week in fourth place, just one point ahead of fifth place Wichita. By sweeping a home-and-home series with the Thunder last week the Mallards opened up a five point lead over Wichita before stretching the gap to seven points with yesterday's win in Missouri. Had the Thunder swept the two game set from the Mallards, Wichita would have overtaken Quad City in the standings. Last week's victories also enabled the Mallards to move two points ahead of Tulsa into third place, though the Oilers still have six regular season games remaining while the Mallards have four left. The Mallards are just two points behind second place Rapid City. The Rush has five games remaining.

Century

Last Friday's 4-0 win over Wichita was Terry Ruskowski's one hundredth victory as Mallards coach. Ruskowski has now gone 101-76-23 since taking behind the Mallard bench for the 2012-13 season.

Blanked

Parker Milner made 26 saves last Friday in the Mallards' 4-0 win over Wichita. The shutout was Milner's second this season and the Mallards' third.

Shootout

Mario Lamoureux scored the only goal of the shootout yesterday in Missouri. With that 4-3 victory, the Mallards improved to 5-3 in the shootout this season.

Nickel

Each of the Mallards' last five victories has come against either Wichita (three times) or Missouri (twice). The Mallards last defeated a foe other than the Thunder or Mavericks on March 6 when they overcame Allen 3-2.

Home Sweet Home?

The Mallards, like every other team in the Central Division other than first place Allen, have a better record on the road (18-12-4) than at home (16-15-3). While the Americans are the exception to the trend, their home winning percentage (.727) is only .015 higher than their away winning percentage (.712).

Red Light District

The Mallards scored five times last Wednesday night against Wichita after scoring just once in each of their prior four games and scoring three goals or fewer in each of their prior ten games. Last Wednesday evening also marked the first time the Mallards had scored five goals in one outing in 14 games since defeating Brampton 6-3 on February 22. The Mallards have now scored at least four goals in each of their last three games. The Mallards rank nineteenth in the ECHL in goals per game (2.8).

Stingy

The Mallards have allowed three goals or fewer in each of their last 15 games. They rank fourth in the ECHL in goals against per game (2.6).

Powering Up

The Mallards established a team single game season high by scoring three power play goals yesterday. The Mallards have scored at least one man advantage goal in each of their last four games. They have converted six of their last 13 advantages over three-plus games.

Killers

The Mallards have killed off 17 of their foes' last 18 power plays over five-plus games. They rank fifth in the league in penalty killing (85.3 percent).

Baked

Kevin Baker has scored nine times and totaled 15 points in his last 11 games. By scoring (twice) or assisting (once) on each of the Mallards' three regulation goals yesterday he matched team season highs for goals and points in one game.

Super Mario

With an assist yesterday Lamoureux reach 65 points and thus matched the career point-scoring high he set as a rookie with Ontario Reign in 2012-13. Lamoureux is tied for fourth in the ECHL in assists (46).

Not Your Average Joe

Joe Perry has scored three times (and added an assist) in his last three games and four times in his last five outings to take over the Mallard lead in goals (24).

Foxy

Justin Fox broke loose for three goals and two assists in the Mallards' home-and-home sweep of Wichita last Wednesday and Friday. Fox equaled team season highs for goals and points in a single game when he score twice and added an assist in last Wednesday's 5-3 win in Wichita.

Debuts

Matt Neal picked up a pair of assists in his professional debut last Wednesday in Wichita after signing with the Mallards earlier that day and has now collected three assists in his first three games. Jake Baker also made his professional debut last Wednesday- after signing with the Mallards last Monday- and picked up his first career point (an assist) last Friday against the Thunder. Neal joined the Mallards from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Baker from Northern Michigan.

First

Jannik Christensen scored his first ECHL goal- a game winner- last Wednesday in Wichita in his fifty-seventh game of the season. Christensen has played forward the last five games after spending the first 54 on defense.

Between the Pipes

Milner has started and won three straight games and given up three goals or fewer in each of his last 11 games. Last Friday he earned his second shutout of the season exactly one month after posting his first whitewashing- a 3-0 defeat of the Mavericks in Missouri on February 27. Milner now ranks third in the ECHL in goals against average (2.22), is tied for third in save percentage (.922), ranks eighth in minutes played (2326) and is tied for ninth in wins (22).

Milestone

Mike Monfredo yesterday at Missouri played his two hundredth consecutive game since joining the Mallards as a rookie in 2012-13.

Head to Head

The Mallards have gone 7-4-3 against the Beast this season and have posted a 4-2-0 record at home against Brampton. All-time, the Mallards have gone 14-7-6 against the Beast overall and 6-5-2 at the iWireless Center... The Mallards have gone 6-2-1 overall against the Rush and 2-3-0 in Rapid City this season. The Mallards are 19-11-3 all-time against the Rush overall and 7-7-2 at Rushmore Plaza Civic Center.

Ins and Outs

The Mallards today released forward Berkley Scott...The Mallards last Wednesday signed forward Matt Neal...The Mallards last Monday signed defenseman Jake Baker...Forward Alex Grieve missed the Mallards' last two games after suffering an upper body injury last Wednesday at Wichita...Forward Logan Nelson has missed the Mallards' last eight games (lower body)...Forward Pearce Eviston has missed the last nine games (lower body)...Forward Antti Pusa is on 21-day injured reserve retroactive to February 7 and has missed 24 games (upper body).

NEXT HOME GAME

Wednesday, April 1, 7:05 p.m.- Mallards vs. Brampton Beast

Four Tickets for $20; T.G.I. Friday's Postgame Party

The Mallards this week play their final Wednesday night home game of the season. This Wednesday is the final chance this year for fans to get four tickets for just $20. Likewise, after this Wednesday evening's contest, the Mallards will welcome fans to their final T.G.I. Friday's postgame party of the campaign. T.G.I. Friday's is located on River Drive in Moline adjacent to the iWireless Center.

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 . ECHL-TV pay-per-view video webcasts and free audio webcasts of all Mallards games are also available at myqcmallards.net.

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.com 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 at least ten 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.com .



ECHL Stories from March 30, 2015


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.

Other Recent Quad City Mallards Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central