Thunder Fall 6-2 in Penalty-Filled Contest vs. Mallards

Moline, IL (Feb. 7th) - In a battle for second place, Quad City (22-16-4-2) scored three in each of the second and third periods to knock off Wichita (21-18-2-4) by the final score of 6-2 on Saturday night at the i-Wireless Center. The two teams combined for 136 penalty minutes, but only seven power play attempts. Wichita loses for the first-time ever in regulation at Quad City while still leading the season-series 5-3-1-0.

RG Flath scored his eighth of the season while Ian Duval added his seventh late in the third period.

Goaltending was the story of the first period as both netminders were outstanding. Parker Milner made two terrific saves on Eric Meland from in close and kept the Thunder at bay. Tim Boron was just as good, although he was only credited with nine saves. His best came on a two-on-one as Justin Fox had a wide open net, but he came across in the splits and made leg pad save.

In the second period, Quad City got on the board first at 7:05 as Matt Duffy put a one-timer past Boron from the top of the left circle on the power play. Andrew Collins added to the lead at 13:38 with a rebound marker and his first of the season. At 18:28, Nick Grasso made it 3-0 with a wrist shot that got over the left shoulder of Boron for his fourth of the season.

Quad City added to their lead early in the final frame with a goal from Todd Fiddler four minutes in. Wichita finally broke through two minutes later when Anthony Perdicaro fired a shot towards the net that Flath got a piece of and cut the lead to 4-1. The fun began at 12:03 when Todd Hosmer dropped the gloves behind Boron's cage with Antti Pusa, bringing everyone down into the corner. Erick Lizon and Jeff Lee got the boot while several others were assessed penalties. At 13:09, Mario Lamoureux and Michael Trebish started shoving each other as the play was leaving the Thunder defensive zone. Dan Milan and Anthony Collins got tangled up and both were sent to the showers. Out of the scrum, Quad City was awarded a power play and re-gained a four-goal lead with a goal from Kevin Baker at 13:31. Duval scored at 17:08 from the slot and made it 5-2. Wichita attempted to pull Boron twice down the stretch, but the Mallards added one more as Grasso found an empty-net at 19:05.

Wichita finished with 74 penalty minutes on 18 infractions while the Mallards had 62 minutes on 16 infractions. Flath recorded his 81st goal in a Thunder uniform and is four shy of Jim McGeough for eighth place all-time. Perdicaro added an assist in his first game since Friday's trade while Justin Bernhardt collected his first point. Boron suffers the loss, stopping 23 of 28 shots. Milner improves to 4-0-0-0 against the Thunder, stopping 26 of 28 shots he faced.

Wichita went 0-for-3 on the power play. Quad City was 2-for-4 with the man advantage.

Wichita returns home for two of the next three games beginning on Friday night against the Missouri Mavericks at 7:05 p.m.

Individual tickets are on sale now. Don't delay! Tickets can be purchased at the INTRUST Arena Box office, by calling 755-SEAT or go online at www.selectaseat.com. Stay up-to-date on all the news during the season by visiting www.wichitathunder.com.

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.

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