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MOLINE, IL – The Quad City Mallards were seeking their fifth straight win on Friday when the Indy Fuel came to town, donning hot pink sweaters for Pink in the Rink. Pink in the Rink is a part of the Hockey Fights Cancer initiative, vowing to fight back against cancer and remember those who had lost their battle and those who had won. As part of Pink in the Rink, fans were invited to paint names on the ice in pink paint for the skaters to skate over on Friday and Saturday. The sweaters will then be auctioned after the game on Saturday, with proceeds going to the Genesis Health Systems Foundation. The Mallards will have to start a new streak on Saturday, as the Fuel weren’t fans of the pink sweaters.

The Mallards suffered bad bounces the entire game, finding the wrong side of the iron or the puck deflecting away from the net off a screening stick rather than towards. The Mallards played well, but the Fuel and Tomkins had the bounces and played better.

The beginning of the game saw lots of back and forth action between the two teams, neither one having possession for very long. A little less than four minutes into the game, Jack Burton took a slashing call to prevent the puck going past recently returned from the Rockford IceHogs Matt Tomkins.  There was a scramble in front of Tomkins, the puck bouncing off his pads and his stick and other players sticks as he was down in the butterfly, giving the Mallards a good opportunity to get on the scoreboard first. Burton’s penalty caused a whistle to stop play, breaking up the momentum the Mallards had gained.

A few minutes later Tristan King juggled the puck one too many times while streaking down the ice on Tomkins’ left, being unable to get a shot off from the corner of the crease. Josh Shalla gave the Fuel the first goal of the game just over 12 minutes into the opening frame when he, Ryan Rupert, and Matt Rupert were in on a three-on-two. The puck traveled from right to left of C.J. Motte, Motte sprawling to try to make the save. The puck sailed in over his left shoulder after Shalla sent a one-timer in, and the officials had to discuss before signaling that it was indeed a good goal.

Darian Dziurzynski had an uncontested breakaway early in the second period, but Motte stone-walled him to keep the game to a single goal. A goalie’s favorite sound – the puck hitting iron – echoed throughout the second period as the Mallards were unable to hit the inside of the posts. Matt Pohlkamp, who had drawn iron in the second period, was able to put the Mallards on the board at just over the four minute mark of the final frame. Pohlkamp picked up the rebound that came off the end boards, sending the puck in to meet twine. Triston Grant and Keegan Kolesar were credited with the apples on what would prove to be the lone tally for the Mallards.

Nineteen seconds after Pohlkamp’s marker, Matt Rupert fired in a shot to beat Motte on the left side. His brother had sent the puck in from the blue line to Motte’s right, Shalla picking up the secondary assist on the game winning goal. The game was not over, however, as eight minutes later the Fuel scored off a faceoff to insure a victory – provided the Mallards didn’t mount a comeback. The faceoff was to Motte’s right, and after Indy won the faceoff the puck was bouncing around every which way but out of the zone. Motte went down to cover it but it took a bounce differently, instead bouncing to Stephen Collins. Collins couldn’t ignore the gaping net, and his goal was assisted by Dziurzynski and Michael Neal. The Fuel then capitalized on their second power play of the game, cementing the win with a goal by Ryan Rupert. Rupert sent a rocket in over Motte’s shoulder after getting the puck from Anthony Cortese, and that was how the game ended.

Tomkins showed why he was with Rockford until Friday morning, turning away 45 of 46 shots. The bounces went Tomkins’ way as well, which is something a goaltender will never complain about. Motte faced 33 shots.

MOLINE, IL – The Quad City Mallards defeated the Indy Fuel 5-3 on Saturday night to end their two-game losing streak, beginning a weekend series between the two teams. Two players were both on hat-trick watch after two periods, one on either team. Neither was able to complete their hat-tricks, however. The Mallards were out-shot once more, but Ivan Kulbakov stood strong in net to prevent another loss. The Mallards honored veterans throughout the night, welcoming six onto the ice as the starting military line-up. The team donned specialty VFW Post #1303 jerseys for the night, which will become warm-ups sweaters for the rest of the season before being auctioned off at the end of the year.

Brayden Low started the scoring off at eight and a half minutes into the first period, Matt Pohlkamp and Willie Raskob assisting. Pohlkamp brought the puck up from the defensive zone along the boards opposite the benches, deking around Frank Schumacher to Collin Delia’s left. Pohlkamp then passed to Low at the circle, who back-handed it in past Delia. Sam Warning added to the Mallards’ lead eight minutes later with help from newly assigned Tyler Wong. Wong was parked behind the net to Delia’s right, and passed to Warning infront of the net. Warning went down on a knee as he took the shot, the goal also being assisted by Alexander Kuqali.

The Fuel struck back quickly Alex Wideman finding twine behind Kulbakov with 43 seconds remaining in the first period. The puck went coast to coast from Kulbakov’s left to right, Cam Reid with the primary assist. Andrew Schmidt was also credited with an apple on that tally.

At two minutes and twenty-two seconds of period number two, Warning scored his second goal of the night. Twenty-three seconds later he dropped the gloves with Nathan Noel, who made his professional debut in Saturday’s match-up. Nick Bligh then scored twice within the span of two minutes and twenty-five seconds, his first goal being assisted by Wideman and Troy Vance. Wideman was skating around the back of the net from right to left and when he reached the trapezoid line he passed to Bligh at the doorstep. Bligh’s second goal was assisted by Reid and Michael Neal. Bligh crashed the net on Kulbakov’s left, causing the goalie to try to dispute the call, possibly because it appeared the puck could have been kicked in as Bligh stopped rather than bouncing in. The referee was rather insistent on it being a goal, however. Bligh’s tying goal came just as time expired on Wong’s high-sticking penalty, meaning that both teams’ penalty-kill units were perfect on the night.

Ryan McGrath scored his first goal as a Mallard a few minutes later, Pohlkamp and Raskob assisting. Pohlkamp brought the puck up the left side, passing it from the dot to McGrath in the low slot. Tristan King then put the final nail in the coffin at 16:52 of the final frame, Alex Globke and Kuqali with the apples. Delia thought he had it, but there was a scramble infront of the blue-paint and King snagged the puck to bat it in.

Before the game the Fuel announced that they had picked up Alex Sakellaropoulos to take the place of Etienne Marcoux, who signed a Professional Try-Out Agreement with the Laval Rocket on Friday.

The Flock Welcomes...

Ryan McGrath

“Ryan is a highly competitive player who has the skills to match that competitiveness. He was part of a college program at Lowell that took great pride in winning and paying attention to details. Ryan can play both wing and center, which is always a great asset to have.” ~Head coach Phil Axtell

Matt Pohlkamp