COMPLETE NUTRITION GAME PREVIEW VS SAN DIEGO 1.16.17
Jan 16, 2017 San Diego Gulls (16-12-2-1, 35 points) at Iowa Wild (18-18-2-1, 39 points)
Iowa and San Diego meet for the first time in AHL history. The Wild returns from a five-game road trip after going 4-1-0-0. Iowa begins a four-game home stand on Monday and wraps up on Saturday with visits from Texas and Grand Rapids. The Wild is coming off a 2-1 OT win at San Antonio on Saturday night, the team’s fourth straight victory. The Gulls are coming off a 3-2 OTW at Rockford on Friday night, the team’s third straight win. The Gulls have wins in five of their last six and points in seven of their last nine games. Iowa will visit San Diego on Feb.14.
Iowa is 8-11-0-1 at home this season and 5-5-0-0 over the last 10 outings. The Wild has been outscored by the visiting teams 60-52 this season. The Gulls are 6-6-1-0 at home and 5-3-1-1 over the last ten games. San Diego has been outscored by the home teams 41-30.
Upcoming Games:
Team Date Time Radio / TV
vs. San Diego 1/16 7:00 PM CT KXNO/ iHeartRadio
vs. Grand Rapids 1/18 7:00 PM CT KXNO / iHeartRadio
vs. Texas 1/20 7:00 PM CT KXNO / iHeartRadio / MC22
vs. Texas 1/21 7:00 PM CT KXNO / iHeartRadio
at Grand Rapids 1/25 6:00 PM CT KXNO / iHeartRadio
Transactions:
1.16.17: Add – F Alex Petan – Signed PTO
1.16.17: Add – F Kurtis Gabriel – Assigned by Minnesota (NHL)
Last Time Out
The Iowa Wild defeated the San Antonio Rampage 2-1 in overtime in front of 7,303 fans on Saturday night at the AT&T Center. Right wing Christoph Bertschy scored twice, including the game-winning goal 3:37 into overtime to lift Iowa to victory. Iowa records the first ever four-game winning streak in the team’s four-year existence and ties the team mark for consecutive road wins. Iowa goalie Alex Stalock stopped 33 shots for the win as the team moved back to .500. Rampage goalie Spencer Martin stopped 37 of 39 in his team’s fourth straight loss.
Iowa Wild
Through the first 39 games of the regular season, right wing Teemu Pulkkinen leads the club with 12 goals and 26 points in 29 games played. Pulkkinen also leads the team in power-play goals (4), first goals (5), game-winning goals (3) and shots (97). Veteran center Pat Cannone is second in scoring with 21 points, off 16 assists and five goals in 36 games played. Recalled to Minnesota, forward Jordan Schroeder is among the leaders in scoring with 12 assists and 18 points in 25 games played. Rookie Alex Tuch is tied for third in scoring with 18 points in 32 games played. Tuch has eight goals and 10 assists. Center Grayson Downing is fifth in scoring with 17 points off six goals and 11 assists in 37 games played. Rookie Mario Lucia and defenseman Mike Reilly are tied for sixth overall in scoring. Reilly leads all blueliners in points off four goals and 11 assists in 27 games played. Lucia has five goals and 10 assists for 15 points in 27 games played. Defenseman Gustav Olofsson (4g,10a) and forward Colton Beck (3g-12a) also rank among the team’s scoring leaders.
Veteran Alex Stalock and Steve Michalek split time in net for Iowa. Stalock is 12-10-2 with a 2.66 GAA and a .910 SV%. Michalek is 6-8-1 with a 2.81 GAA and a .915 SV%.
Iowa’s power play sits 23rd in the league after going 23-for-150 (16.0%). The Wild’s penalty kill sits 17th after stopping 120-of-148 (81.1%).
Notables –
● Wild forward Christoph Bertschy has eight points in his last five games (6g,2a).
San Diego Gulls
Through the first 31 games of the season, right wing Corey Tropp leads the Gulls in scoring with 26 points in 31 games played. He leads the club with 18 assists, five power-play goals and three game-winning goals. Defenseman Brandon Montour is second on the club in points with 10 goals and 15 assists in 27 outings. He shares the team goal scoring lead with Kevin Roy. Left wing Kalle Kossila is third on the club with 23 points off seven goals and 16 assists in 30 games played. Kossila is also the team leader with a +17 rating. Roy is fourth on the Gulls with 22 points in 31 games played.
Goalies Kevin Boyle and Dustin Toharski see the majority of time in net. Boyle is 5-3-2 with a 2.38 GAA and a .918 SV %. He has started the last seven games. Toharski is 9-6-1 with a 3.29 GAA and a .889 SV %.
San Diego’s power play is 18th, going 23-for-134 (17.2%). The Gulls are 29th on the penalty kill, stopping 94 of 123 (76.4%).