THIS WEEK
Wednesday, March 22, 7:05 p.m.
INTRUST Bank Arena
Quad City Mallards vs. Wichita Thunder

Friday, March 24, 7:05 p.m.
iWireless Center
Fort Wayne Komets vs. Quad City Mallards

Sunday, March 26, 4:05 p.m.
iWireless Center
Wichita Thunder vs. Quad City Mallards

Quad City
35-24-4, 74 points
3rd place, Central Division
Coach: Phil Axtell

Wichita
18-38-4, 40 points
7th place, Central Division
Coach: Malcolm Cameron

Fort Wayne
37-17-7, 81 points
2nd place, Central Division
Coach: Gary Graham

LAST WEEK
Wednesday, March 15
Kalamazoo 4 Quad City 3 (OT)
Kyle Bushee scored 20 seconds into overtime to give the Kalamazoo Wings a 4-3 victory over the host Mallards.

Friday, March 17
Quad City 3 Missouri 2
Michael Parks and Nolan LaPorte provided a goal and an assist apiece and Adam Vay made 29 saves as the host Mallards defeated the Missouri Mavericks 3-2.

Saturday, March 18
Quad City 5 Missouri 0
Adam Vay made 32 saves and five different Mallards scored as the host Mallards shut out the Missouri Mavericks 5-0.


Sunday, March 19
Indy 8 Quad City 7
The host Indy Fuel hung on for an 8-7 victory after barely surviving an epic bid by the Mallards to rally from a 6-0 deficit in a game that saw both the Fuel's Kenny Ryan and the Mallards' Sam Warning score hat tricks.

QUACK TRACKS
Clincher
The Mallards clinched a Kelly Cup playoff berth when the Toledo Walleye defeated the Tulsa Oilers 3-2 in overtime yesterday. Tulsa’s loss left the third-place Mallards with an insurmountable 15-point lead over the fifth-place Oilers- who have seven games remaining- in the Central Division standings. The top four finishers in the division qualify for the playoffs.

Playoff Habit
The Mallards have reached the playoffs for the third time in as many seasons since entering the ECHL, for the fifth year in a row including their final two Central Hockey League campaigns and for the sixth time in the last seven years.

Central
The third-place Mallards are four points ahead of the fourth-place Kalamazoo Wings in the Central Division standings. The Mallards have a game in hand on Kalamazoo. The Mallards are seven points behind the second-place Komets, who have two games in hand on the Mallards.

Busy
The Mallards went 2-1-1 while playing four games in five days last week.

Axtell
The Mallards have gone 16-8-2 in 26 games since Phil Axtell took over as head coach on January 20.

Home Sweet Home
The Mallards have established a team season best by going unbeaten in regulation (4-0-2) in their last six home games. With Saturday’s win the Mallards eclipsed the five-game home regulation unbeaten streak they put together by winning five straight games on home ice between January 20 and February 12. The Mallards last fell in regulation at the iWireless Center when they were beaten 4-2 by Kalamazoo on February 24.

On the Road
The Mallards have four road games remaining. After visiting the Thunder this Wednesday, the Mallards will return to Wichita next Tuesday. The Mallards visit Indianapolis again on April 4 before closing out the regular season in Fort Wayne on April 8.

Fireworks
The Mallards yesterday gave up eight goals for the first time since they suffered an 8-5 Central Hockey League road loss to the Bloomington Blaze on March 12, 2013. The Mallards allowed six goals in the first period yesterday, the most goals they have allowed in a single period since the franchise returned to the ice after a two-year hiatus in 2009. The Mallards yesterday matched their season high for most goals scored in one game. With 15 goals on the board, yesterday’s contest was the highest-scoring game in which the Mallards have been involved since they defeated Bloomington 9-6 on February 8, 2022 at the iWireless Center.

Sweep
The Mallards last weekend swept a pair of home games from Missouri to improve to 5-0-0 on home ice against the Mavericks this season.

Blanked
Saturday’s shutout was Vay’s and the Mallards’ third of the season.

Nickel
The Mallards last Saturday matched their largest margin of victory this season. The Mallards have won by five goals four times.

Tight
Three of the Mallards’ four games last week were decided by one goal. The Mallards have 20-9-4 in 33 one-goal games this season. The Mallards lead the ECHL in one-goal victories and are tied with Missouri for the league-lead in one-goal games.

Overtime
Wednesday’s loss dropped the Mallards to 3-2 in games decided in overtime.

Wing-Dinged
The Mallards have suffered overtime losses in each of their last two games against Kalamazoo. Wednesday’s setback came on the heels of 3-2 sudden death defeat at the hands of Wings on March 1.

Red Light District
After scoring a dozen times over their last two outings, the Mallards now rank fifteenth in the ECHL in goal-scoring (3.2 per game). After veering from Saturday’s shutout to yesterday’s Fuel explosion, the Mallards now rank eighth in the league in goals against (3.0).

Perfect 10
Justin Kovacs set a Mallard season high and a personal career high by recording four points (one goal and three assists) yesterday. Kovacs was credited with his third assist- on Warning’s third goal at 7:35 of the third period- in a postgame scoring change. Kovacs yesterday took over the team lead in points (53). He also leads the Mallards in assists (37). Kovacs has now piled up ten points (three goals and seven assists) in his last five games and 17 points (four goals and 13 assists) in his last nine games.

Hat Trick
Warning yesterday scored his second hat trick of the season. He also scored three goals on February 4 in a 5-3 win over Rapid City. Warning has scored four times and added an assist in his last two games.

Jelly
Guillaume Gelinas yesterday set career highs by scoring twice and totaling three points. Gelinas has five points (three goals and two assists) in two games since returning to the lineup after missing two games with an upper body injury.

On the Plus Side
Kevin Gibson ranks fourth in the ECHL in plus/minus rating (plus-31). Mike Wilson has posted a plus-12 in his last six games.

Debut
Forward Shane Sooth made his ECHL debut Friday against Missouri after signing with the Mallards earlier that day.

Between the Pipes
Vay is tied for fifth in the ECHL in shutouts (3) and is tied for tenth in wins (18). C.J. Motte ranks sixth in the ECHL in save percentage (.914) and is tied for eighth in goals against average (2.71).

Milestones
Chris Francis has scored 98 career ECHL goals…Guillaume Gelinas has played 95 career games.

Special Teams
Kovacs scored on the power play Saturday to end a 0-for-19 Mallard man advantage drought. The Mallards have now converted one of their last 22 opportunities. The Mallards rank twenty-sixth in the ECHL on the power play (12.5 percent) and rank fifteenth in penalty killing (82.2 percent).

Head-to-Head
Sunday’s game is the first of three in seven days between the Mallards and Thunder. The Mallards won the only prior meeting between the two clubs this season 6-4 on February 26 at the iWireless Center. The Mallards have gone 18-18-3 all-time against Wichita and have gone 9-10-1 at INTRUST Bank Arena...The Mallards have gone 3-6-0 against the Komets this season. They have gone 1-3-0 in four home games against the Komets. The two clubs will wrap up their 12-game season series and the regular season overall with a home-and-home April 7 and 8. All-time, the Mallards have gone 53-55-11 against Fort Wayne.

Ins and Outs
Forward Adam Gilmour was reassigned to the Mallards by Iowa (AHL) today…Defenseman Guillaume Gelinas returned to the lineup Saturday after missing the Mallards’ prior two games (upper body injury)…The Mallards Friday signed forward Shane Sooth to a standard player contract…Forward Pavel Jenys has missed the Mallards’ last 18 games (upper body injury).

UPCOMING HOME GAMES
Friday, March 24, 7:05 p.m.- Mallards vs. Fort Wayne Komets
$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.

Sunday, March 26, 4:05 p.m.- Mallards vs. Wichita Thunder
Skate with the Mallards
Bring your skates and join the Mallards on the ice after the game.

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 orinfo@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.