MOLINE, Ill. (Mar. 31) – Kevin Carr made 36 saves and Peter Sivak scored and added an assist as the Alaska Aces (32-26-10) held off the host Quad City Mallards’ comeback bid (39-25-4) to claim a 4-3 win Friday night.
The Mallards’ loss combined with the Fort Wayne Komets’ victory over the Cincinnati Cyclones Friday to end the third-place Mallards’ hopes of overtaking the second-place Komets in the Central Division standings and earning home ice advantage in the opening round of the Kelly Cup playoffs. The Mallards now trail the Komets by eight points and lead the fourth place Kalamazoo Wings by four points.
The Mallards could not quite battle all the way back after twice falling behind by three goals. The Aces’ surge to a 3-0 lead started when Sivak opened the scoring with a wrist shot from the left wing circle at 8:22 of the first period. Dan Moynihan doubled the Alaska advantage from the right wing circle at 15:54 of the first. Mackenze Stewart blasted the Aces’ third from the left point at 4:53 of the second period.
After Michael Parks got the Mallards on the scoreboard for the first time by burying a rebound at 18:26 of the second, an explosive start to the third period saw the Aces reestablish a three-goal cushion only for the Mallards to quickly claw back within one. Brad Navin scored from the slot to put Alaska on top 4-1 at 2:30 of the third. That goal loomed even larger after the Mallards struck twice in quick succession. Adam Gilmour’s shot from the right point sailed home through traffic at 4:33 and set the stage for Jack Nevins to narrow the gap to 4-3 by snapping the puck in under the crossbar at 7:29. Despite being outshot 13-7 in third period- and 30-15 over the final two periods combined- Carr and the Aces would hang on the rest of the way.
With Quad City Mallards release
Contact the photographer: Rich.Guill@prohockeynews.com
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