The Chill owned the third period tonight. Down 3-1 after allowing a gut wrenching goal with under a minute left in the second period, St. Charles battled back with three-straight goals, the last jammed in by rookie Ryan Berard for his second of the night, and got some key saves down the stretch from Robby Moss en-route to a 4-3 win over Quad City Friday night that ended a tough seven game stretch.
St. Charles (8-20-4) was ready right out of the gates, getting on the scoreboard first with Berard’s fifth of the season on helpers from Steve Anthony and Mike MacIntyre just over three minutes into the game. Quad City (15-7-5) tied it back up five minutes later with a power play goal and an evenly played period ended that way, tied at 1-1.
The second period has been the strongest of the three for the Chill this season and tonight was no different, controlling play and outshooting the Mallards 11-6 in the period. Despite the dominance of the Chill, Quad City added a pair of goals, stretching the lead to 3-1 in the final minute and St. Charles had a hill to climb in the third.
The climb started with a little push from the Mallard as goalie Ty Rimmer turned the puck over to Nicklas Lindberg who put home the shorthanded gift to close the gap to 3-2. With seven minutes left, the Chill tied the game at 3-3 on a power play goal from John Snowden, his first with St. Charles and sixth this season, on assist from Lindberg and Jordan Fox. The Chill had just six shots in the final period, 10 fewer than the Mallards, but it was Berard’s goal at the 15:40 mark that proved to be the game winner as the Chill withstood a late furry behind another great game from Moss.
The Chill returns to The Family Arena for a rematch with Quad City tomorrow at 7:05 and will host top-ranked Rapid City on Sunday at 4:05. Fans can call the Chill office at 636.724.SHOT to take advantage of Pepsi Family 4-Packs for just $60 that include four platinum level tickets, four hotdogs, four cans of Pepsi (or diet), and four bags of chips. For group ticket packages, sponsorships, and more information on the St. Charles Chill visit StCharlesChill.com.