News release
15 January 2005
Moline, IL The Quad City Mallards scored two early goals and held on for a 4-2 win Saturday night at the Mark on the banks of the mighty Mississippi.
In their first and only trip to Moline this season, the Jackals gave up two goals in the first eight minutes of the game and would not be able to recover. Mallards leading scorer Mike Kompon got the ducks on the board at 4:14 when his centering pass redirected off the chest of defenseman Alex Andreyev and past a helpless Greg Hewitt for a 1-0 lead. Four minutes later the lead was two courtesy of a Justin Brown goal that passed through a three-player screen on its way to the twine. Elmira stole back from momentum just before the break when Jamie Thompson stole the puck and performed a vintage J.T. move by out-skating every opponent and tipping a back-hand past Robert Gherson at 19:21 for an unassisted goal.
The Jackals used that spark to begin out-playing Quad City, but their efforts didnt yield goals in the second period, including their second failed 5-on-3 advantage of the game. Instead Patrick Nadeau scored just as Tom Claytons minor penalty expired at 7:18 for a 3-1 Mallards lead after two.
Elmiras relentless pressure continued into the third period, and things finally started going the Jackals way. Darren Van Oene cut the lead back to one goal with a wrap-around tally at 5:09 assisted by George Pujacs. Elmira continued their attack on Gherson who was magnificent in goal, but the pressure almost boiled over, forcing Quad City head coach Paul Gillis to use his time out with four minutes remaining in efforts to calm down his shaken team. The ploy worked and with 13 seconds left on the clock and the Jackals net empty, Jason Deskins sealed the win for a 4-2 final score.
Gherson earned the win by turning away 35-of-37 for the win, while Hewitt made 33 saves on 36 Quad City shots, but again didnt have the goal support as he took the loss.