EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Mike Monfredo scored at 2:50 of overtime to give the Quad City Mallards (13-7-3) a come-from-behind 6-5 victory over the host Evansville IceMen (6-12-1) Sunday night. The dramatic win was the Mallards’ fifth in a row and extended their lead atop the ECHL’s Midwest Division to three points over the second place Cincinnati Cyclones.
Monfredo- who also had two assists- completed the Mallards’ comeback from a 5-2 third period deficit by rifling home Jake Baker’s centering pass.
The Mallard rally started just 18 seconds after Tyson Fawcett’s shorthanded goal gave the IceMen a three-goal lead at 2:37 of third. Mere morments after Fawecett finished off a two-on-none jailbreak with Daulton Leveille- who had two goals and an assist- Zach Pochiro roofed the Mallards’ second power play goal of the night from the left wing circle to narrow the margin to 5-3. Alex Gudbranson’s blast from the right point trimmed the gap to a single goal at 7:04 of the third. Just one minute and 23 seconds later Guilluame Gelinas tied the game at five in a goalmouth scramble.
The IceMen scored three times in two minutes and 59 seconds to build a 4-2 second period lead. After Matt Carey’s power play blast from the right point gave the Mallards a 2-1 lead at 5:24 of the second, Alex Guptill kick-started the Evansville onslaught from close range at 9:41 of the second. Just 70 seconds later Leveille steered the tie-breaking goal home from the slot. The gap stretched to two goals when Tyler Sims pounced on a rebound at 12:40.
The offensive fireworks started early: Leveille swept in the opening goal from the left wing boards just 25 seconds into the game. Olivier Archambault tied the score from the slot at 7:01 of the first period.
The Mallards return to action on the road Friday night against the Rapid City Rush. The Mallards next play at home Friday, December 18 at 7:05 p.m. against the Wheeling Nailers.
With Quad City Mallards team release
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