WILD NEARLY COMPLETE COMEBACK, FALL 5-3 TO GULLS
Apr 3, 2022
SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Iowa Wild (25-27-4-4; 58 pts.) fell to the San Diego Gulls (27-26-3-1; 58 pts.) on Saturday, Apr. 2 by a final score of 5-3. Wild forward Vladislav Firstov recorded the first two points of his professional career in the loss.
At 12:37 of the first period, Wild defenseman Kevin Czuczman circled around the Gulls net and found Wild forward Mitchell Chaffee in front of San Diego goaltender Lukas Dostal (32 saves). Chaffee pushed Czuczman’s pass past Dostal to give Iowa a 1-0 lead. Assists were credited to Czuczman and Wild defenseman Jon Lizotte.
Iowa opened the scoring and prevented San Diego from scoring any goals of their own and the Wild led 1-0 after the first period. In addition to leading on the scoreboard, Iowa led 17-12 in shots in the period.
San Diego forward Bryce Kindopp directed a pass in the slot past Iowa goaltender Zane McIntyre (27 saves) on the power play at 6:50 of the second period. Kindopp’s goal tied the game 1-1.
Gulls forward Buddy Robinson tapped in a wraparound pass at the left post at 10:15 of the second period to give San Diego a 2-1 lead.
46-seconds after Robinson’s goal, a pass attempt from San Diego forward Lucas Elvenes deflected off a Wild player and past McIntyre at 11:01 of the second period to extend the Gulls’ lead to 3-1.
Following a three-goal second period for San Diego, the Gulls held a 3-1 lead over Iowa. The Gulls outshot the Wild 13-5 in the second stanza and led 25-22 in shots through two periods.
Gulls forward Brent Gates Jr. beat McIntyre on the power play with a wrist shot from the right circle to give San Diego a 4-1 lead at 7:26 of the third period.
Firstov found Czuczman in the slot after collecting his own rebound and Czuczman beat Dostal with a wrist shot to cut the Gulls lead to 4-2 at 11:57 of the third period. Firstov recorded the only assist on the play.
Just 32-seconds later, Firstov connected with Chaffee at the right post and Chaffee tapped in the third Iowa goal of the game at 12:29 of the third period. The goal made the score 4-3 in favor of San Diego and was assisted by Firstov and Wild defenseman Turner Ottenbreit.
After the Wild pulled McIntyre for the extra attacker with one-minute remaining in the third period, Gulls forward Danny O’Regan scored on the empty net with 22-seconds left in regulation to give San Diego a 5-3 lead.
In the end, the Wild fell to the Gulls by a final score of 5-3. Iowa put on a significant amount of pressure in the third period, outshooting San Diego 13-7. The Wild outshot the Gulls 35-32 in the game.
Two of San Diego’s five goals came on the power play as the Gulls were 2-for-4 and the Wild were 0-for-6 on the night.
The Wild continue their road trip with a visit to Tucson to take on the Roadrunners on Tuesday, Apr. 5 at 8:30 p.m. CT.
Iowa Wild hockey is presented by MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center. For more information, please visit www.iowawild.com. Fans can purchase single-game tickets through the team’s website at www.iowawild.com. Group tickets (10 or more), suites, Wild 365 memberships or premium tickets can be purchased by contacting the Iowa Wild Ticket Department at (515) 564-8700 or tickets@iowawild.com. The 2022-23 season marks the 10th anniversary of Iowa Wild hockey. Fans can purchase season tickets for the 10th anniversary season at https://www.iowawild.com/wild-365.
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