MOLINE, Ill. – Brett Smith and Tylor Michel both scored first period goals and Grant Rollheiser made 31 saves as the Brampton Beast defeated the host Quad City Mallards 2-1 Friday night before a crowd of 5,542 fans. With the win, the Beast (28-21-5, 61 points) moved past the Mallards (26-16-8, 60 points) into fifth place in the Central Hockey League.
Smith’s breakaway goal gave the Beast a 1-0 lead 7:09 into the game. Michel’s tip-in doubled the Brampton advantage at 13:31 of the first.
Rollheiser kept the Mallards off the scoreboard until Chris Greene scored from the doorstep to finally bring Quad City within one with 2:51 left in the third period. The Mallards, however, would come up short in their bid for a late equalizer even after pulling goaltender Thomas Heemskerk for an extra attacker.
Forward Thomas Frazee returned to action for the Mallards tonight after being activated from injured reserve earlier in the day. Frazee missed the Mallards’ prior six games while on IR.
The Mallards host the Beast again tomorrow night at 7:05 p.m. Duck Dynasty’s Mountain Man will drop the puck for a ceremonial faceoff before tomorrow evening’s game and will meet fans and sign autographs during that contest.
Tickets for tomorrow night’s game and all Mallards regular season home tilts can be purchased at the iWireless Center ticket office, Ticketmaster outlets, through ticketmaster.com or through Ticketmaster charge-by-phone toll free at 1-800-745-3000. The ticket office is open weekdays from 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and on game days from 10:00 a.m. until the start of the second period.
With Quad City Mallards team release
Photos courtesy of Rich Guill (Sean Flynn Photography)