(Photo Credit: Mick Lite)
The St. Charles Chill notched their first win in franchise history with a 6-5 shootout win over the Quad City Mallards on Sunday night.
Despite being out-shot 47-28 for the game, and giving up two two-goal leads, the Chill cashed in on their opportunities and got some timely saves from St. Louis native Robby Moss in his first start that propelled head coach Jamie Rivers to his first win behind the bench.
St. Charles (1-2-1) fell behind late in the first period on a Mike Stinziani goal but less than two minutes later Kyle O’Kane scored on the power play to even things up with just over one minute remaining in the opening frame.
Justin Levac gave the Chill a 2-1 lead early in the second and Kyle Kraemer added a goal to push the lead to 3-1 midway through the period. The Mallards (1-1-1) closed the gap to one on a goal from John McKenzie but O’Kane cashed in his second of the game two minutes later to bump the lead back up to 4-2.
Quad City responded in the third period by scoring two goals in the first 4:33 to tie the score at 4-4 but David Strathman pushed a pass from Chad Costello past Ty Rimmer to give the Chill a 5-4 lead midway through the final frame but the Mallards were not done. With the clock nearing a minute left Rimmer skated off for the extra attacker and Quad City took advantage, tying the game with 58 seconds left on a goal from Stinziani to silence the crowd and force overtime.
The Chill misfired on a couple of chances to put the game away in the extra session but failed to convert and the game went to a shootout for the second time in three games at The Family Arena.
After falling behind 1-0 in the shootout, Chill goalie Robby Moss was terrific, making three big saves that allowed Kraemer and Costello a chance to net a goal before Steve Makway put the game away with a quick wrist shot for the win.
The Chill is back on the ice Wednesday night at 7:05 as they fight for the Show-Me Cup against the Missouri Mavericks, who opened the season with a shootout win in St. Charles. Single-game tickets are available through MetroTix and at The Family Arena box office. For ticket packages, sponsorships, and more information on the St. Charles Chill visit StCharlesChill.com or call (636) 724-SHOT (7468).
