MOLINE, Ill. – Kevin Baker broke a 2-2 tie with just 12.8 seconds left in regulation with his second goal and third point of the night as the host Quad City Mallards (29-22-7) rallied to defeat the Allen Americans (37-11-7) 3-2 Friday night.
After Matt Duffy’s shot hit the post in the dying seconds of the game Baker poked the rebound into the back of the net to complete the Mallards’ comeback from a 2-1 third period deficit with his second goal of the period. Baker had evened the score at two by sweeping in a centering pass from Jeff Lee- who had three assists- at 10:25 of the third.
The Mallards found themselves in need of Baker’s heroics after the Americans struck twice in the second period. Allen was on the power play when Gary Steffes tied the game at one by one-timing Patrik Valcak’s centering pass at 8:49 of the second period. Just three seconds after Parker Milner stopped Steffes’s penalty shot, Chad Costello pounced on a rebound to break the deadlock at 14:34 of the second.
Logan Nelson- who also had an assist- opened the scoring with a backhander from the slot at 16:01 of the first period but it would be in the third period that the Mallards took the game away from the Americans.
The Mallards and Americans meet again tomorrow night at 7:05 p.m. at the iWireless Center. Tomorrow evening is John Deere Community Night. 2,000 tickets for tomorrow night’s game are available for just $5 courtesy of John Deere while supplies last. Also tomorrow night, the first 1,000 fans through the doors 12 and under will receive free Mallards youth replica jerseys presented by KWQC-TV6.
With Quad City Mallards team release
Photos courtesy of Rich Guill (Sean Flynn Photography)
