THIS WEEK
Friday, November 3, 7:05 p.m.
TaxSlayer Center, Moline
Indy Fuel vs. Quad City Mallards

Saturday, November 4, 6:30 p.m.
Allen County War Memorial Coliseum, Fort Wayne
Quad City Mallards vs. Fort Wayne Komets

Quad City
3-3-0, 6 points
tied 3rd place, Central Division
Coach: Phil Axtell

Indy
2-3-1, 5 points
tied 5th place, Central Division
Coach: Bernie John

Fort Wayne
2-1-1, 5 points
tied 5th place, Central Division
Coach: Gary Graham

LAST WEEK
Friday, October 27
Quad City 3 Idaho 2 (SO)
Ivan Kulbakov set a Mallard club record for most saves in an ECHL game by stopping 57 shots in regulation and overtime and then turned aside all three Idaho Steelhead shootout bids as the host Mallards outlasted the Steelheads 3-2 in the shootout.

Saturday, October 28
Quad City 3 Idaho 2 (OT)
Sam Warning's power play goal with 4.8 seconds left in overtime gave the host Mallards a 3-2 win over the Idaho Steelheads.

QUACK TRACKS
Sweep
The Mallards last weekend swept the first two meetings with the Steelheads in franchise history.

.500
With Saturday’s win the Mallards climbed to .500 for the first time since they defeated Tulsa 5-4 on October 14 to improve to 1-1-0.

Sudden Death
The Mallards Friday went to overtime and the shootout for the first time this season. One night later they claimed their first overtime win.

Home Sweet Home
The Mallards over the weekend won the first two games of a three-game homestand. Saturday’s victory lifted the Mallards over .500 (3-2-0) on home ice this season. Friday’s game against Indy will be the Mallards’ sixth home game out of seven overall. They will go on to play 13 of their first 16 games at home.

On the Road
The Mallards play just their second away game of the season Saturday in Fort Wayne. In their only prior road game, the Mallards fell to the Toledo Walleye 3-0 on October 21.

First Blood
The Mallards Saturday scored the first goal of the game for the first time this season when Matt Pohlkamp broke a scoreless deadlock at 2:46 of the second period. Saturday also marked the first time this season the Mallards did not allow a goal in the first three minutes and 49 seconds of the first period.

Tight
Each of the Mallards’ three victories have been one-goal games.

Shooting Gallery
The Mallards Friday allowed more shots- 59- than they have in any game since joining the ECHL. The old team record of 49 shots against in an ECHL game was set on November 9, 2021 in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Beast in Brampton. The 52 shots the Mallards surrendered in the first 60 minutes Friday surpassed the old club mark of 48 regulation shots by an ECHL foe that was posted by the Wheeling Nailers on November 19, 2021 in a 3-2 victory over the Mallards in Moline.

Outgunned
The Mallards allowed a total of 107 Idaho shots over the weekend. The Mallards have surrendered at least 40 shots in each of their last four games and have been outshot in each of their first six. On the season, the Mallards give up an average of 42.3 shots per game and take 29.0 per game.

Return Fire
The Mallards set team season highs by taking 43 shots in Saturday’s game and by taking 17 shots in the second period of that contest.

Breakthrough
By scoring at 9:01 of the first period Friday, Josh MacDonald ended a drought that had seen the Mallards go 98 minutes and 54 seconds without scoring. MacDonald’s goal was the Mallards’ first since Justin Kovacs found the net at 10:07 of the second period of the Mallards’ 5-2 loss to the Tulsa Oilers on October 18. After going goalless for the remainder of that game, the Mallards were shut out 3-0 by the Walleye October 20 in Toledo.
 
Record Breaker
Kulbakov Friday broke the previous team record of 45 saves in a single ECHL contest originally set by Evan Mosher in the November 9, 2021 battle with Brampton and matched by C.J. Motte in the November 19, 2021 game against Wheeling. By coming up with an even 50 saves in regulation Friday, Kulbakov topped the old club ECHL high of 45 saves in regulation set by Motte in that meeting with Wheeling last year. The Mallards entered the ECHL in 2014.

Keeping Up with the Jones
Kulbakov Friday produced more saves in one game than any Mallard netminder has made since the team returned to the ice in 2009. He surpassed the previous high set on February 27, 2022 when Kyle Jones had 52 saves in the Mallards’ 3-2 International Hockey League loss to the Gems in Dayton. The 55 shots the Mallards conceded in that game against Dayton represented another post-2009 high that was surpassed Friday. The Mallards Friday did not match the club high for shots allowed in regulation in one game since 2009. The 52 shots the Mallards gave up over the three regulation periods Friday were three shy of the Gems’ total in the February, 2010 tilt.

Highs
Kulbakov Friday also established a new league season high for saves in one game, eclipsing the old mark of 45 stops set by the Norfolk Admirals' Jake Paterson in a season-opening 4-2 loss to the Steelheads in Boise on October 13. The Steelheads set another ECHL season high by piling up 59 shots Friday. Idaho outstripped the 53-shot effort the Nailers unleashed on October 14 in a 7-6 overtime victory in Greenville.

Shut Down
After Idaho’s Justin Parizek knotted the score at two with 24 seconds left in the first period Friday, Kulbakov made 68 straight saves over the remainder of regulation and overtime in that game and the first 31 minutes and 14 seconds of Saturday’s rematch before Mitch Moroz the next Steelhead. Kulbakov kept Idaho off the scoreboard for 76 minutes and 38 seconds over two nights by stopping the visitors’ final 44 shots Friday and first 24 Saturday. In total, Kulbakov turned aside 103 of the Steelheads’ 107 shots over the two games.

Between the Pipes
Kulbakov now leads the ECHL in total saves (167) this season and ranks sixth in save percentage (.938).

Warning Sign
Warning (5-1-6) scored in each of the Mallards’ two games over the weekend and has scored in five of their first six games of the season. He is tied for third in the league in goals.

Sudden Death Sam
Saturday’s game winner was Warning second career regular season overtime goal. On March 26 he scored at 2:42 of sudden death to give the Mallards a 2-1 victory over the Wichita Thunder on home ice. Regular season and playoffs combined, Warning has scored the Mallards’ last three overtime goals. On April 21 he gave the Mallards a 3-2 win over Fort Wayne in game four of round one of the Kelly Cup playoffs by scoring at 19:44 of the first overtime.
 
Mac Attack
MacDonald (3-2-5) also scored in each of last weekend’s games and added an assist in Saturday’s tilt.

King Me
Tristan King scored the only shootout goal Saturday.

Debuts
Kyle Bigos and Michael Pontarelli both made their Mallard debuts Friday after missing the first four games of the season.

Firsts
Alex Globke recorded his first Mallard point Friday by assisting on MacDonald’s goal. Kevin Kirisits recorded his first ECHL point Saturday by assisting on another MacDonald goal.

Milestones
Kovacs has 99 career points…King has 93 career goals…Garrett Klotz has 976 career regular season penalty minutes.

Special Teams
The Mallards ended a season-opening 0-for-15 power play dry spell when MacDonald scored on the man advantage Friday. Both Warning and Matt Pohlkamp scored on the power play Saturday. The Mallards went 3-for-8 for the weekend and now rank twenty-first in the ECHL on the power play at 13.0 percent. The Mallards’ penalty kill ranks twenty-second at 78.3 percent.
 
Head to Head
This Friday’s game will be the first of 11 meetings between the Mallards and Fuel this season. The Mallards went 7-3-0 against Indy last season. The Mallards went 3-1-0 against the Fuel on home ice. All-time the Mallards have gone 10-10-0 against Indy overall and 6-3-0 at home…On Saturday night, the Mallards and Komets meet for the first time since Fort Wayne defeated the Mallards four games to one in the opening round of last spring’s playoffs. The clubs will collide a total of nine times this season. During the regular season, the Mallards went 4-8-0 against the Komets last year. The Mallards went 2-4-0 against Fort Wayne at home. The Mallards have gone 54-57-11 all-time against the Komets.

NEXT HOME GAME
Friday, November 3, 7:05 p.m.- Mallards vs. Indy Fuel
$2 Dogs/$2 Beers presented by 97X
Fans can enjoy $2 hot dogs and beers from TaxSlayer 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.

ON THE AIR
Fox Sports Radio 1230 is the radio home of Mallards Hockey Presented by Genesis Orthopedic Hospital. 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 or info@myqcmallards.net for more information about tickets. Single game tickets are also available at the TaxSlayer 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.