MOLINE, IL – With the 2018 Winter Olympics having begun already, many people are reminiscing about their favorite past Olympics. Perhaps the most celebrated of the past Olympics in American hockey circles is the “Miracle on Ice”, and with that reminiscing comes remembering of quotes by the famed Herb Brooks. One quote stands out after the Quad City Mallards’ game against the visiting Fort Wayne Komets on Saturday: “The legs feed the wolf, gentlemen.” The legs did indeed feed the wolves, as the Mallards looked akin to Team USA in the exhibition game in Norway on September 17, 1979 – where the US Olympians held out for a 3-3 tie against the Norwegian National Team but were then Herbie’d. The Komets just plain out-skated the Mallards throughout the entire night, as well as out-checked, out-passed, and out-scored. The Komets waged a war of attrition on the Mallards, speeding up and down and side to side on the ice as they completed crisp passes and wore the home team down.

Both teams were held scoreless after 20 minutes thanks to Michael Houser and Ivan Kulbakov. Four penalties were handed out in the first 20 minutes, only one of them not being for slashing. The penalties were evenly distributed, and the teams began the second period with 25 seconds of four-on-four before the Mallards went on a 25 second power play. The Mallards were ineffective with the man advantage, and only a minute after the teams returned to even strength the red light was lit.

Kulbakov has played an aggressive game for the Mallards, and though going out of the crease to play the puck can be a useful play, sometimes it comes back to haunt the goaltender. Shortly after the Komets came off the penalty kill, Kulbakov went out of his crease to play the puck in front of the left trapezoid. While out of his crease, Justin Hodgman grabbed the puck instead. Hodgeman passed it over to Trevor Cheek, and Cheek tapped it into the empty net as Kulbakov made an attempt at a diving save. Fifty-five seconds later the Komets doubled up their lead thanks to Mason Baptista, who sent the puck in over Kulbakov’s blocker. Garrett Thompson and Jamie Schaafsma earned the assist on that tally.

It was not until almost the 16-minute mark of the second frame that the Mallards ended Houser’s shut out. Three seconds after Ryan Culkin entered the sin bin for roughing, Jake Bolton sent a wrister in from the blue line nearer the penalty boxes after Ryan McGrath had won the faceoff on the same side. The Mallards’ attempt at a comeback would be short-lived, however, as Bobby Shea scored off a shin pad. Shea sent in the shot from the blue line, and as the puck traveled in the air it bounced off a defending Mallard’s right shin pad. This deflection caused a slight redirection of the puck, giving it a higher trajectory as it sailed towards Kulbakov. The puck then hit the cross bar, bounced off of Kulbakov’s back, and into the net. Logan Nelson and Dennis Kravchenko picked up the apples on what would prove to be the game-winning goal.

Nelson decided he didn’t like Greg Amlong being behind Houser in Gretzky’s office, tripping him as play continued towards the Mallards’ zone. Amlong then gave Nelson a taste of his glove, and Nelson dropped his own. Before any more punches could be thrown, Jamie Tardif skated up behind Nelson and tackled him to put him in a head lock. All three earned roughing calls, putting Fort Wayne on the power play.

The Komets were held off the board again until just over 11 minutes of the final frame, when Baptista scored again off a deflection. Baptista was just a little before the goal line to Kulbakov’s right when he shot the puck, the puck hitting the post as Kulbakov slid to make the save. The bounce went to Kulbakov’s shoulder, which then led it into the net to light the lamp. Ryan Lowney and Thompson made their ways onto the scoresheet with the assists, and less than thirty seconds later their teammates joined them on the scoresheet. Kravchenko went on a breakaway, out-skating the defense to leave him all alone against Kulbakov. Marco Roy earned the assist on the final tally of the night.

After the game, the Mallards’ specialty Pink in the Rink sweaters were auctioned off. Over $16,000 were raised through the auction, the proceeds going to the Genesis Health Services Foundation.

Goaltender Ivan Kulbakov has been recalled from the Mallards by the American Hockey League’s Cleveland Monsters.

Kulbakov ranks second in the ECHL in saves (434), ranks ninth in minutes played (786) and is tied for tenth in wins (7). He has gone 7-6-0 with a 3.36 goals against average and a .908 save percentage in 14 games with the Mallards this season.

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TRANSACTION: G Ivan Kulbakov has been recalled from loan by @monstershockey.

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CINCINNATI, OH – The Quad City Mallards’ quest for a road win still continues after a strong showing by the Cincinnati Cyclones on a school day game. Eric Knodel completed a hat-trick in the game which started at 10:30 local time, his three goals being the difference in the 5-2 match-up between the teams. Cincinnati went one for two in power-plays, while Quad City went two for five.

The score remained at zero until 17:56 of the first period when Knodel ended Ivan Kulbakov’s shut-out bid. Winston Day Chief got the puck in the Cincinnati corner, passing it up to Brandon McNally. McNally then dropped the pass to the left of Kulbakov to Andrew Radjenovic, who then passed to Knodel at the right dot. The puck sailed over Kulbakov’s right elbow. The score then was brought to 2-0 after a Shawn O’Donnell break-away towards the middle of the second frame. O’Donnell sent in a backhand shot from the right side, Jesse Schultz earning an assist on the tally.

Two minutes later Knodel netted his second of the morning with help from Justin Danforth. Sam Warning had attempted a short-handed wrap-around goal as Dmitry Osipov was in the sin bin for interference. The puck couldn’t quite wrap-around, sailing wide to the crease. Knodel grabbed the puck, streaking along the half-boards and saucing the puck back and forth with Danforth. Knodel tried to split the defense in the low slot, taking a hit from Alexander Kuqali. Though Knodel was knocked down, he managed to stand back up and recapture the puck that had continued on without him only a few feet. Knodel sent the puck towards the net from the far edge of the right circle, the puck kissing twine over Kulbakov’s left shoulder.

Tyler Wong scored his first goal as a Mallard just a few minutes later to end Anthony Peters’ shut-out, this time Danforth being in the box for roughing as well as Dominic Zombo for slashing. Warning passed the puck from the near edge of the left circle to Wong at the right dot. Tristan King also earned an apple on that goal.

Arvin Atwal returned the Cyclones to a three goal lead just one second before the eight minute mark of the final frame after taking a pass from Radjenovic. Radjenovic carried the puck up the boards, centering the pass at the level of the dots to Atwal. McNally made his way onto the scoresheet with his second assist of the night on that mark, which was Atwal’s first of the season. Kyle Follmer also scored his first goal of the season just five seconds into another Mallards power-play. Brayden Low won the face-off to Peters’ right, sending it back to King. King then took a shot, which was tapped in by Follmer as he was screening the Cincinnati goalie.

Knodel finished out his hat-trick with just six seconds remaining on the clock, sending the puck from the high slot of the Cincinnati defensive zone into the empty net. This goal was unassisted.

MOLINE, IL – The special teams were out in less than full force when the Adirondack Thunder faced the Quad City Mallards on Wednesday for the first and only time this season. There were two short-handed goals scored, while there was a combined 11 penalties through the night. Ivan Kulbakov faced off against Nick Riopel, the Mallard goalie facing 34 shots for Riopel’s 23.

The Mallards managed to not give up a goal in the first four minutes of play, instead giving up a goal at just a smidge under seven minutes into the first period. Conor Riley shot the puck from the far edge of the right circle, Paul Rodrigues attempting to deflect it in from the top of the blue paint. Kulbakov made the first save, but the rebound bounced to Terrence Wallin to net the first goal of the game.

The Mallards had only amassed four shots on goal before Wallin scored, not getting another shot on goal until roughly 16:30 of the opening frame. Something wasn’t right with the team, their passes either soft or straight to an opposing player. The Thunder had sustained pressure in the offensive zone, at one point looking like they were on a power-play.

Josh MacDonald had a couple good breakaway chances, but wasn’t able to tie the game. On his second breakaway he was tripped from behind, earning him a penalty shot. He was unable to pull the trigger, the puck skiddering off of Riopel’s left pillow. With just under two minutes left until the first bathroom break Eric Neiley added to the Thunder’s lead with help from James Henry and Pierre-Luc Mercier. Kulbakov did the splits as he slid coast to coast, but the puck sailed over his blocker to meet twine in the center of where Momma keeps the cookie jar.

The Mallards then began a parade to the penalty box, five penalties being called on them in the second period. Alexander Kuqali started things off by earning a hooking call 28 seconds into the frame. There would be two different bench penalties during the following twenty minutes, both for too many men on the ice. Just under a minute after Kuqali left the box Justin Kovacs entered it to serve the first bench minor. While Kovacs was in there, Brayden Low scored an unassisted short-handed goal for the only Mallards tally of the night. Low raced up the half-boards, slipping it five-hole from the top of the crease. Low then had another goo d scoring chance about two minutes later, almost deflecting the puck in after Michael Pontarelli passed it to him from the left boards. The deflection didn’t quite pan out, however.

At 11 minutes and 45 seconds Ty Loney scored the insurance goal from the mid-slot. Kevin Lough and Shane Conacher earned the apples on Loney’s tally, which was not the last of the night to be scored. With 8.7 seconds left Henry scored an unassisted short-handed empty net goal to end the game on a low note for Mallards fans.

MOLINE, IL – For the first time in franchise history the Quad City Mallards took on the Idaho Steelheads on Friday night in what proved to be a shooting gallery by the visitors. Ivan Kulbakov made 57 saves on the night for Phillipe Desrosiers’ 23 saves, the most by a Mallards goalie so far this season. Brady Brassartreturned to the home of the Mallards for the first time since signing with Idaho over the off-season, contributing to the score sheet in the first period.

Once again the Mallards gave up a goal within the opening four minutes of the game, but this time it was a power-play goal. Sam Warning got the gate for hooking just a smidge over two minutes into the game, sending the Steelheads onto the man-advantage. Forty seconds later Henrik Samuelsson lit the lamp behind Kulbakov after capitalizing on a rebound just outside the crease on the goalie’s left. Joe Faust and Jefferson Dahl earned the apples on Samuelsson’s tally. Four minutes later the Mallards almost scored off a Jamie Tardif shot, the puck bouncing wildly through the crease behind Desrosier during a scramble, but the bounces never went the right way for the Mallards and the goal light remained off.

The Mallards tied the game up on a power-play of their own due to a delay of game face-off violation that brought the face-off from the Mallards’ zone to the Steelheads’ zone. Kyle Bigos, who made his Mallards debut Friday, sent the puck towards the net, Alex Globke finding the rebound and bringing it into the right corner. Globke passed up to Tristan King in the slot, who then passed to Josh MacDonald on the left at the near dot. MacDonald’s shot found twine, bringing the Mallards’ power-play to 1-for-16.

Six minutes later the Mallards took the lead off a Sam Warning goal. King brought the puck into Idaho’s zone through the center, taking a shot on goal. The puck rebounded to Matt Pohlkamp, who passed it back up to King for another shot. That shot then rebounded to the right, Desrosiers following the puck out of the crease. Warning grabbed the puck along the goal line, angling it to kiss the twine just inside the post as Desrosiers slid to the circle around the near right dot.

Garret Klotz and Reid Halabi exchanged punches infront of the visitors’ bench with 35 seconds remaining in the first frame, though it was a rather one-sided exchange. Klotz, at 6’6”, only managed a few punches against the 5’10” Halabi, his sweater appearing to tangle him up. The two sat for four minutes with double roughing minors, but while they were in there the Steelheads knotted the score. Justin Parizek tipped a shot in past Kulbakov, Faust and Brassart making their ways onto the scoresheet with the assists.

The score would remain the same until the end of regulation through the skill of Kulbakov, as the Mallards were outshot 17-6 in the second period and 20-8 in the final period. Same bad passes almost cost the Mallards the game, such as when Warning coughed the puck up to an Idaho player who then streaked away for a breakaway that Kulbakov saved. After regulation time expired the Mallards had a few good chances in the extra period, but the Steelheads did as well.

Kulbakov was perfect in the shoot-out, making saves on Samuelsson, Dahl, and Shane Hanna. King was the only Mallard to score during the shoot-out, Warning unable to release the puck to lift it over Desrosiers.

TOLEDO, OH – The Quad City Mallards have a few problems this season, and they’re most apparent in the early stages of each game. After Saturday’s contest in Toledo against the Walleye, the Mallards are 1-3. The team has allowed 15 goals in 4 games, and of those 15 goals five have been scored within the first four minutes of the game; two were scored within the first two minutes, both times the opponent being the Walleye. In three of the games, the Mallards have been outshot in the first period by a wide margin – 10-5 on October 13 against Toledo, 22-9 October 18 against the Tulsa Oilers, and 16-4 October 21 against the Walleye again. The only game the Mallards weren’t outshot in the first period was on October 14 against the Oilers, when the shot count was 11-8 in favor of the Mallards after 20 minutes. Something about the opening frame doesn’t sit well with the Mallards, and whatever it is needs to be fixed sooner rather than later if the Mallards plan to begin winning games.

The Mallards were shut out by Pat Nagle on Saturday when the Mallards went on the road for the first time in the 2017-2018 season. The first goal of the night was scored by Kevin Tansey with help from Zach Nastasiuk. The Mallards were unable to clear the puck along the half boards at the blue-line, Austen Brassard keeping the puck in the Mallards’ zone. Nastasiuk followed the puck that Brassard had chipped farther into the zone to the right corner, where he passed it down to Tansey in the high slot just to the right of center. The puck sailed over Ivan Kulbakov’s glove into the gaping net that Kulbakov revealed as he was in the butterfly.

Three and a half minutes later Garret Klotz began to show just how he plans on accumulating “maybe 200 penalty minutes, a couple fights” as he said back during training camp, when he earned his first penalty of the young season by taking down Ryan Obuchowski with a roughing call. Obuchowski caught the puck in his glove just outside the Mallards’ blue-line before catching Klotz’s left glove in the face as the Mallard skated past, Obuchowski going down to the ice and remaining there for a few moments.

Shortly after Klotz left the sinbin he attempted to go back in, as he wanted to add another five minutes to his count by sticking up for a teammate. Davis Vandane tripped Alex Globke with his knee on the Mallards’ blue-line, appearing to hit Globke’s knee with his own to bring down the Mallard. Klotz didn’t like the trip, following Vandane to jaw at him and presumably drop gloves after giving him a bit of a forearm shiver. Alas, Klotz would have to wait ten minutes before being able to fight.

Toledo added to their lead with a power-play tally at 17:45 of the opening frame, their diamond pattern working well to confuse the Mallards and get on the scoreboard. Vandane took a shot in the high slot after receiving the pass from Shane Berschbach from the left dot near the blue-line. The puck bounced off Kulbakov’s pads to the right, where Simon Denis ready to slap the puck into the twine from the near edge of the circle to right.

With 90 seconds left in the first period Chris Leibinger came in like a wrecking ball on Zach Nastasiuk in the Walleye’s defensive zone along the right boards. Tansey took exception to the hit and decided to drop the gloves with him, but Klotz didn’t want Leibinger to fight so he swooped in. Connor Crisp wasn’t keen on Klotz taking on Tansey, so he came into the fray so the final combatants were Crisp and Klotz along the blue-line. After the fracas those two went to the locker rooms, while Berschbach served Crisp’s two minutes for instigation and Tansey served a cross-checking call for his aggression against Leibinger. Leibinger also was in his penalty box for a roughing call for the hit.

With 2.2 seconds remaining in the first twenty minutes A.J. Jenks scored a short-handed goal that the Mallards disagreed with. The Walleye had a 3-on-2 break heading into the Mallards’ zone, and Christian Hilbrich backhanded a pass from left to right infront of the crease. As Jenks skated towards the net he stopped at the crease, snowing Kulbakov in the process and also directing the puck into the twine. It wasn’t a kicking motion that scored the goal, as the puck bounced off of Jenks’ skates as he stopped. Kyle Follmer, who had been attempting to block Hilbrich’s pass, gestured that the goal should have been waved off, even going so far as to kick the air to show he thought it was kicked in, but the officials disagreed with his assessment.

Through the next two periods the Mallards were able to keep the home team off of the scoresheet again with Kulbakov’s goaltending shining, but Nagle denied the Mallards each and every time they managed to get a shot. When the final horn sounded, Nagle had faced and stopped 23 shots for Kulbakov’s 37 saves.