Ryan Walters scored twice as the Utah Grizzlies (23-23-10) defeated the host Quad City Mallards (19-33-4) 5-2 Wednesday night. 

 

The Mallards fell short after spending most of the evening battling from behind. Brad Navin's one timer from the slot gave the Grizzlies a 1-0 lead at 9:53 of the first period. Greg Amlong's blue line blast evened the score at one at 12:41 of the first but Walters would put Utah back on top for good from the high slot at 16:08.

 

Austin Ortega's spectacular individual effort- Ortega charged into the goalmouth off the right wing to bury the puck- stretched the Grizzlies' lead to 3-1 at 3:16 of the second period. The Mallards' responded just one minute, four seconds later. Kyle Novak cut the gap to 3-2 on a 2-on-1 rush.

 

The Grizzlies grabbed a two goal lead for a second time when Ryan Misiak raced down the left wing to snap the puck in at 3:43 of the third period. Walters capped off the Utah victory by scoring a shorthanded empty net goal with just over a minute remaining.

 

The Mallards next play at home Friday night at 7:05 p.m. against the Grizzlies. Friday will see 97X welcome fans to $2 Beer/$2 Dog Night. Fans can enjoy discounted beverages and hot dogs during every Mallards Friday home game. In addition, Friday is MetroLINK College Night.  The Mallards have once again partnered with Metro to provide transit service between Augustana College and downtown Moline during Friday home games. As part of Metro’s unlimited ride program, Augustana riders can use their Augustana ID as their fare. 

Tickets for Friday night's game and all Mallards regular season home games are now on sale at the TaxSlayer Center box office, Ticketmaster toll free charge-by-phone (1-800-745-3000) and ticketmaster.com. The box office is open weekdays from 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.