Moline, IL (Nov. 6th) - Despite a strong second period, Wichita (4-4-0-0) fell at the hands of the Quad City Mallards (4-3-1-2) by the final score of 4-2 on Friday night at i-Wireless Center. The Mallards broke a tie game in the third period with a pair of goals to take a 2-1-0-0 series lead against the Thunder.
Olivier Archambault gave the Mallards an early 1-0 lead just over three minutes into the contest, beating Grant Rollheiser with a wrist shot from the right circle. Wichita pulled even five minutes later as Brandon Martell collected a centering feed from Andy Huff and recorded his third of the season. At 13:22, Mason Baptista gave Wichita its first lead of the game with a snap shot from the top of the left circle that beat Brody Hoffman over the glove. Quad City knotted the game at two at 15:38 with a power play goal from Raphael Bussieres. The two teams combined for four goals in the first 20 minutes of the contest.
In the second, the Thunder tilted the ice in terms of the shots on goal. Wichita fired 14 shots and held the Mallards to just four. The two teams were unable to find the net and the contest headed into the third tied at two.
Early in the third, Mike Monfredo got to a loose puck off a long bounce that came from behind Rollheiser's net and he gave the Mallards the lead, 3-2. Wichita was forced to kill off four minor penalties in the frame, including one five-on-three and one four-on-three situation. Matt Neal sealed it with a tally at 12:38 to give the Mallards a 4-2 advantage.
Peter Sakaris extended his point-streak to four games with an assist on Baptista's second of the season. Andy Huff added two assists to extend his point-streak to three games (5a). Martell has goals in two of the last three games. Rollheiser takes the loss, stopping 20 of 24 shots. Hoffman claims the win, stopping 21 of 23 shots on net.
Wichita heads to Independence tomorrow night to take on the Missouri Mavericks starting at 7:05 p.m. The Thunder will close out the weekend on Sunday afternoon against the Mavericks starting at 5:05 p.m.
Individual tickets for all games are on sale now. Tickets can be purchased at the INTRUST Arena Box office, by calling 855-755-SEAT or go online at www.selectaseat.com.
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About the ECHL
The ECHL began in 1988-89 with five teams in four states and has grown into a coast-to-coast league with 28 teams in 20 states and one Canadian province for its 27th season in 2014-15. There have been 541 players who have started their career in the ECHL have gone on to play in the National Hockey League, including 29 who made their NHL debuts in the 2013-14 season. The ECHL had affiliations with 26 of the 30 NHL teams in 2013-14, marking the 17th consecutive season that the league had affiliations with at least 20 teams in the NHL. Further information on the ECHL is available on its website at ECHL.com, as well as on Twitter and Facebook.
-Thunder-