Box Score

MOLINE, IL- The Wichita Thunder defeated the Quad City Mallards 6-4 at the iWireless Center on Thursday night.

Bobby Hughes broke a 4-4 tie with a shorthanded goal with 2:54 left in regulation to propel the Thunder to the win.  Hughes and Troy Schwab each had two goals.

With Quad City on a power play, Hughes picked up a loose puck that trickled through the neutral zone.  Hughes grabbed the puck in the slot and drove closer to the net before beating Mallards' goaltender David Brown with a wristshot to his left.  Jesse Bennefield iced the game with an empty net goal with 1:02 left in the game.

Schwab scored his second of the night at 3:57 in the third to snap a 3-3 tie, tapping in his own rebound to the left of Brown.  Brandon Marino made it a 4-4 game at 10:41, dragging the puck around the left post and beating Marc-Antoine Gelinas with a high backhand shot.

Jared Brown scored the first goal of the night at 4:03 in the first period, beating Gelinas on a wrist shot from the right circle during an odd-man rush.  Later in the period, the Mallards went ahead 2-0 when Jake Riddle tipped the puck past Gelinas at 17:23 on a scramble in front of the crease.  Hughes cut the lead in half at 18:44, taking a drop pass from Jesse Bennefield and shooting past Brown from the slot.

Schwab tied the game at 2-2 at the 4:42 mark in the second.  Outnumbered by the Mallards' defense, Schwab beat Brown from the top of the right circle with a high shot that rang down under the crossbar.  Kory Scoran gave Wichita its first lead of the night with a power play goal at 7:26.  Hughes passed from behind the net where Scoran shot past Brown from close range.  Adam Maccarone re-tied the game at 9:09 in the second with a slapshot from the left circle.

Gelinas was 25 of 29 for the win.  Brown saved 28 of 33 in the loss.  Wichita was 9 for 9 on the penalty kill, including Hughes' shorthanded goal, while going 1 for 5 on the power play.

The win allowed the Thunder to sweep the regular season series from Quad City 4-0-0.