MOLINE, IL – The host Quad City Mallards (40-25-4) clinched a third-place finish in the ECHL’s Central Division and an opening round Kelly Cup playoff match-up with the Fort Wayne Komets by defeating the Alaska Aces (32-27-10) 4-2 on Saturday.
The Mallards’ win combined with the Kalamazoo Wings’ loss to the Florida Everblades earlier this evening to lock up the third seed in the division for the Mallards and consign Kalamazoo to fourth place. The second-place Komets’ hopes of overtaking the Toledo Walleye atop the Central ended tonight even though Fort Wayne defeated the Indy Fuel in a shootout. While the Komets still have a mathematical chance of finishing the regular season tied with Toledo, it is now guaranteed they would lose the tiebreaker – non-shootout wins – to the Walleye. The second-place finisher in each division faces the third-place team in the best-of-seven first round of the postseason, while the top team in the division meets the club that finishes fourth.
Justin Kovacs scored twice and Adam Vay made 39 saves to propel the Mallards past the Aces. At 6:39 of the third period, Michael Parks snapped a 1-1 deadlock with the first of first three Mallard goals in just under six minutes. One minute and 57 seconds after Parks buried a rebound, Chris Francis’ one-timer stretched the Mallard lead to 3-1. Kovacs then rifled in his second goal and the team’s fourth from the right wing circle at 12:27. Alaska’s Garet Hunt narrowed the gap to 4-2 from the doorstep at 13:53, but the Aces would get no closer.
In all, the Mallards scored four straight goals after Marco Roy gave the Aces a 1-0 lead from point-blank range at 3:26 of the first period. The Mallard revival began when Kovacs jammed in a rebound at 17:21 of the first.
The Mallards tonight reached 40 victories for the first time since they finished the 2005-06 United Hockey League season 41-27-8. The Mallards have totaled 84 points, the most they have collected since they finished 2006-07 UHL campaign with 85. The Komets, who will have home ice advantage in the opening round, have gone 42-18-8 for 92 points so far this season.
The Mallards and Komets are set for their fourth all-time playoff meeting and their first clash in 14 years. The two clubs last met in the postseason when the Komets defeated the Mallards four games to one in the 2003 UHL Colonial Cup finals. The Mallards took back-to-back UHL semi-final series from Fort Wayne in 2000 and 2001. The Mallards swept the Komets in three games in 2001 after winning the first ever postseason match-up between the clubs four games to one the prior year.
The Mallards return to action against the Indy Fuel in Indianapolis Tuesday night. The Mallards play their final regular season home game Friday night at 7:05 p.m. against the Komets.
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