Sahir Gill and Riley Brace scored in the first period and the host Wheeling Nailers (4-2-0) went on to defeat the Quad City Mallards (3-3-2) 2-1 Friday night.

The Nailers were on the power play when Gill pounced on a loose puck in the slot to open the scoring at 10:53 of the opening period.

With just 6.5 seconds left in the first, Brace doubled the Wheeling lead with what proved to be the game winner from the right wing circle.

The Mallards' Matt Neal cut the gap to 2-1 with a power play goal at 10:37 of the second period.  Neal buried Austin Coldwell's centering feed to cut the deficit in half, but the Mallards could not produce an equalizer even after pulling goaltender Brody Hoffman- who shined while making 36 saves- for an extra attacker late in the third period.

The Mallards next play at home next Wednesday evening at 6:35 p.m. against the Mavericks.  Fans can get four tickets to Wednesday's tilt- and all remaining Mallards Wednesday night home games- for just $40.

Single game tickets for all Mallards regular season home games- including Wednesday's contest- are on sale now at the iWireless Center box office, Ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.com and Ticketmaster charge-by-phone toll free at 1-800-745-3000.  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.  Tickets are available for $10, $16, $20 and $28.