MOLINE, Ill. – Raphael Bussieres scored the third period game winner and added a late empty net goal and Brody Hoffman made 25 saves in his professional debut as the host Quad City Mallards (2-1-1) defeated the Tulsa Oilers (2-3-0) 5-3 Saturday night.
Bussieres provided the Mallards’ fourth lead of the night by breaking a 3-3 tie with a backhander from the right wing circle at 14:37 of the third. He clinched victory after the Oilers pulled goaltender Jussi Olkinuora by putting the puck into the unguarded Tulsa net while falling to the ice with just 20 seconds left.
Bussieres finished off the Oilers after Phil Brewer had tipped home his second goal of the night and the Oilers’ third equalizer of the contest at 3:08 of the third. Darren McMillan assisted on three Mallard goals including both of those scored by Bussieres. McMillan was, along with Bussieres, Miles Koules (one goal and one assist), Logan Nelson (one goal and one assist) and Olivier Archambault (two assists), one of five Mallards who recorded multiple points.
The Mallards first forged in front when Nelson buried a rebound at 6:48 of the first period. Brian Nugent responded for the Oilers on a 2-on-1 rush with just a minute and six seconds left in the first.
Koules pounced on a rebound to give the Mallards a 2-1 lead at 2:46 of the second period only for Brewer to jam in a rebound at the other end just over five minutes later.
Guilluame Gelinas’s power play blast at 11:05 of the second gave the Mallards the 3-2 edge they took into the final frame.
Hoffman was at his sharpest in the third period, stopping 13 Oiler shots to set the stage for Bussieress’s late heroics.
With Quad City Mallards team release
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