Jared Knight broke a 2-2 third period tie with his second goal of the game and Brody Hoffman made 36 saves as the host Quad City Mallards (35-28-6) defeated the Indy Fuel (31-35-3) 4-2 Sunday.

With that win, the Mallards opened a five point lead over the ninth place Tulsa Oilers in the race for the eighth and final playoff spot in the ECHL's Western Conference. The Mallards have three regular season games remaining while the Oilers have four games left.

Knight scored what proved to be the game winner from from the side of the net at 6:18 of the third. Hoffman then preserved the slender lead with a series of fine saves- including superb point-blank stops on Matt White and Colin Murray- until Matt Carey's empty net goal clinched victory for the Mallards with just 28 seconds remaining.

Knight had first given the Mallards the lead when he buried Zach Pochiro's centering pass to snap a 1-1 deadlock at 15:05 of the second period. However, that Mallard advantage lasted just one minute and fifty-five saves before Anders Franzon's close-range power play goal knotted the score at two.

It was the Mallards who had to battle from behind in the first period after Daniel Ciampini pounced on a rebound to give the Fuel the lead just one minute and seven seconds into the game. The Mallards equalized when Olivier Archambault wristed the puck home from the high slot at 7:09 of the first.

The Mallards return to action on the road Wednesday night against the Fort Wayne Komets. The Mallards next play at home Friday night at 7:05 p.m. against the Cincinnati Cyclones. Friday also bring the return of $1 Dog/$1 Beer Night presented by 97X and MetroLINK College Night.

Single game tickets for all Mallards regular season home games- including Friday night’s tilt- 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 $24.