Levesque Hat Trick Powers Mallards Past Chill 6-3 in Front of 8,761
MOLINE, Ill. (February 8, 2014) - Gabriel Levesque scored a hat trick and added an assist as the host Quad City Mallards defeated the St. Charles Chill 6-3 Saturday night in front 8,761 fans. By winning in front of the largest Central Hockey League crowd this season the Mallards (21-11-8) reached the 50-point plateau while the loss left the Chill (10-30-5, 25 points) with 30 regulation defeats this year.
After Levesque pounced on a rebound at 17:45 of the second period to complete his hat trick and give Quad City a 4-2 lead, the Mallards would put the game away by outscoring the Chill 2-1 in the third period. Mike Monfredo widened the Mallard advantage to three for the first time by sweeping the puck home from the left wing circle at 5:58 of the third. With the Chill on the man advantage Dan Weiss's wrist shot snuck inside the post and trimmed the Mallard cushion to 5-3 at 10:47, but just under four minutes later Thomas Frazee would cap off the Quad City victory with a close range power play goal.
The Mallards had emerged from a wild opening 20 minutes with a 3-2 lead. Levesque started the scoring by pouncing on a rebound for the first of his two first period power play goals 8:23 into the game. Matt Duffy's drive from the high slot stretched the Mallard lead to 2-0 just a minute and 19 seconds later. A Travis Ouelette wrist shot from the slot got St. Charles on the scoreboard for the first time at 13:06 of the first. Levesque struck again at 17:09, roofing the puck from the slot to reestablish the two goal Mallard lead. Just when it seemed that two goal margin would stand up through the end of first the Chill would strike on the power play. Kyle O'Kane buried Nicklas Lindberg's centering feed with just 17.2 seconds left in the first to once more reduce the gap to a single goal, but St. Charles would get no closer.
The Mallards and Chill meet again tomorrow in St. Charles. The Mallards next play at home next Friday night at 7:05 p.m. against the Rapid City Rush. Next Friday is another $1 Dog/$1 Beer Night presented by 97X. $1 hot dogs and beers are available at iWireless Center concession stands during each of the Mallards' 11 Friday night home games this season.
Tickets for next Friday night's game and all Mallards regular season home games can be purchased at the iWireless Center ticket office, Ticketmaster outlets, through ticketmaster.com or through Ticketmaster charge-by-phone toll free at 1-800-745-3000. The ticket 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.Monfredo Scores Last Minute Power Play Winner, Mallards Outlast Chill 6-4
ST. CHARLES, Mo. (February 9, 2014) - Mike Monfredo scored a tie breaking power play goal with just 30 seconds left in regulation and the Quad City Mallards went on to claim a wild 6-4 win over the host St. Charles Chill Sunday. With victory, the Mallards (22-11-8, 52 points) moved into sole possession of fifth place in the Central Hockey League and completed a two-game home-and-home sweep of the Chill (10-31-5, 25 points).
Monfredo blasted the game winner from the right point with the Mallards on a late man advantage that resulted from a major penalty (kneeing) assessed to the Chill's Sean Muncy. Thomas Frazee, who also had an assist, clinched the win by scoring an empty net goal on the power play with only 13 seconds left in the contest.
The Mallards' late flurry capped off a third period Quad City comeback triggered by Justin Fox's close range equalizer at 13:36 of the final frame. The Mallards found themselves in need of a rally when Ryan Berard broke a 3-3 deadlock from the slot with the second St. Charles shorthanded goal of the game at 11:57 of the third.
The Chill outscored the Mallards 3-2 in a back-and-forth second period to set the stage for that frantic finish. What had been a 1-0 Mallard lead was erased when Travis Ouellete pounced on a rebound at 2:33 of the second. Exactly two minutes later, Nick Grasso finished off a 2-on-1 rush to put the Mallards back on top. That advantage lasted only until Martin Hlinka scored shorthanded from the top of the left wing circle to knot the game at two at 9:29. Just a minute and 47 seconds later he Chill took the lead for the first time with Cameron Cooper's sharp angle shot. The Mallards responded when Matt Duffy fired in a rebound at 15:27 to tie the score at three.
Jeff Lee's backhander from the slot had opened the scoring at 5:29 of the first period and kick-started what proved to be a roller coaster afternoon.Americans Drop Mallards 5-2
MOLINE, Ill. (February 7, 2014) - Brian McMillin scored two goals and Mark Guggenberger made 40 saves as the Allen Americans defeated the host Quad City Mallards 5-2 Friday night. With the loss, the Mallards (20-11-8, 48 points) settled for a split of their two game series with Allen while the victory ended the Americans' (26-13-4, 56 points) three-game losing streak.
Daniel Tetrault scored what proved to be the game winner on the power play at 8:38 of the second period. Tetrault's one timer from the high slot broke a 2-2 deadlock and turned out to be the first of three unanswered Allen goals. That the Americans entered the third period still on top 3-2 was due in good part to Guggenberger's 19-save effort in the second.
The Americans took control of the contest with a pair of goals in the third. McMillin charged into the goalmouth and buried his second of the game just 13 seconds into the final frame. Alex Lavoie scored Allen's fifth by converting Greger Hanson's centering pass at 7:40.
The Mallards had battled back from an early 2-0 deficit to even the score in the first period. McMillin's close range backhander opened the scoring at 2:31 of the first. At 4:45 Hanson pounced on a rebound to double the Allen lead. The Mallards were on the power play when Matt Duffy's blue line blast cut the gap to 2-1 at 5:47. With just 51 seconds left in the period and the Mallards again on the power play, Mike Monfredo swooped through the left wing circle to score the equalizer but the Mallards would be unable to rally a second time.
