Box Score Highlight Video

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Davenport was back in action Sunday afternoon taking on Western Michigan after a few weeks off for the holiday break. The Panthers were able to shake off the rust early and pick up a 8-1 win against the Stallions to improve to 20-9 on the season. Davenport will be back in action next weekend when they try to regain the “Good Luck DUck” at Oakland on Saturday.
 
The Panthers got on the board early when Tyler Quigley netted his 16^th goal of the season 3:20 into the game. Mason Bohlinger brought the puck down the ice then sent the puck to the center were Quigley was waiting to knock it in with a backhanded shot.
 
Having to kill a couple of Western Michigan power plays in the middle of the first period, Davenport wasn't able to put continuous pressure on the Stallions for a majority of the period. Late in the first Davenport was able to increase their lead to two when Luke McCarthy netted a goal with 1:06 left on the clock. McCarthy was able to collect a rebound from a Stephen Flood shot and put it in the back of the net for the goal.
                                               
Early in the second period, Phil Wendecker found the back of the net to increase the Panthers lead to 3-0. On the goal, Bohlinger found Wendecker who moved to the center of the ice and put a wrist shot in the top left corner of the net from 20 feet away for the score.
 
Less than a minute later, Western Michigan scored a four-on-four goal to make the score 3-1 in favor of the Panthers. JT Osborn, the Stallions leading scorer, got behind the Davenport defense and was able to sneak the puck past Phil Graveline.
 
After several minutes of scoreless play, Bohlinger fired a rocket from the point past the Stallion goalie to put the Panthers up 4-1 with 5:25 left in the second period. Quigley and Matt Ogden picked up assists on the goal.
 
Davenport doubled their score in the third period getting goals by Travis White,  Zach Blumke, Tyler Quigley, and Stephan Flood. Phil Graveline picked up the win in net for the Panthers stopping 22 of the 23 shots he faced.
 
The Panthers will be back in action next Saturday when they take on Oakland in Rochester, Mich. The Panthers took the first two games of the “Good Luck DUck” series before falling in game three. The Panthers can win the season series and reclaim the “Good Luck DUck” with a win on Saturday.
 
Post-Game Quotes – Head Coach Phil Sweeney
 
Thoughts on how team played after coming off winter break – “We started a little sluggish but we kind of figured we would. We responded pretty well and played hard today. You're going to make a few mistakes and have a little rust but as long as the guys played fast that was the key and we did that today.”
 
Thoughts on play of penalty kill (Western Michigan was 0-8 on power play…DU killed a double-minor and a major penalty late in second period) – “You have to have good special teams and that was a turning point in the game. That was one of their last chances to come back and get into the game. John Brooks and Cody Walsh along with Stephen Flood did a really good job, I think that killed off about a minute and a half. And it all starts with goaltending if you are going to have a good penalty kill you have to have someone solid in net and Phil Graveline did that today.”
 
Thoughts on Oakland game next week – “You think about the “Good Luck DUck” games all year, it's not like you start preparing for them that week, we prepare for Oakland all year. That duck, we want it back and we want it back Saturday. We feel like we let it slip away last time and we're coming Saturday and we're going to bring that duck home.”
 
Post-Game Notes
 
Davenport improved to 20-9 on the season and 14-2 in conference play…Davenport out shot Western Michigan 42-23…The Panthers improve to 16-3 all-time against the Stallions…Seven different players scored for the Panthers while 11 different players recorded at least a point.