COMPLETE NUTRITION GAME PREVIEW AT CLEVELAND 2.3.17
Feb 3, 2017 Iowa Wild (22-19-4-1, 49 points) at Cleveland Monsters (20-17-1-3, 44 points)
Iowa continues a five-game road trip on Friday in Cleveland. The Wild took a 5-1 decision in Rockford last Saturday, heading into the All Star break with four straight wins and points in six straight (4-0-2-0). It also marked the team’s seventh straight road win. Iowa has points in ten of its last 11 games (8-1-2-0). Cleveland is coming off a 3-2 shootout win at home over Chicago on Saturday. The Monsters have are just 3-4-0-1 over their last eight.
Cleveland and Iowa are locked in a battle for the fourth and final playoff spot in the AHL’s Central Division. Iowa and Cleveland have met 19 times over the course of AHL history. Iowa is 10-7-1-1 all-time against Cleveland, including a 6-3-1-0 mark on the road. The Monsters are 9-5-2-3 against the Wild all-time, including a 4-2-1-3 mark at Quicken Loans Arena. The two teams will meet 12 times this season. Iowa is 1-1-1-0 in the season series, while Cleveland is 2-0-0-1.
Iowa is 13-7-2-0 on the road this season and 7-1-2-0 over the last 10 outings. The Wild has outscored the home teams 58-55 this season. The Monsters are 12-8-1-1 at home and 4-5-0-1 over the last ten games. Cleveland has outscored the road teams 50-48.
Upcoming Games:
Team Date Time Radio / TV
at Cleveland 2/2 6:00 PM CT KXNO / iHeartRadio
at Cleveland 2/3 6:00 PM CT KXNO / iHeartRadio
vs. Cleveland 2/8 7:00 PM CT KXNO / iHeartRadio
vs. Grand Rapids 2/10 7:00 PM CT KXNO / iHeartRadio / MC22
vs. Grand Rapids 2/11 7:00 PM CT KXNO / iHeartRadio
Transactions:
1.29.17: Delete – D Mike Reilly – recalled by Minnesota (NHL)
2.21.17: Delete – F Marc Hagel – Traded by Minnesota to Ottawa (NHL)
2.2.17: Delete – F Alex Tuch – recalled by Minnesota (NHL)
2.2.17: Add – F Alex Petan – signed PTO
Last Time Out
The Iowa Wild defeated the Rockford IceHogs 5-1 in front of 5,944 fans on Saturday night at the BMO Harris Bank Center. Rookie Alex Tuch scored twice and goalie Alex Stalock made 34 saves as the Wild racked up its seventh straight road victory. Stalock improved to 13-10-4 and helped Wild move to 13-7-2-0 on the road this season. Forward Zack Mitchell also scored and added an assist in the victory. The Wild now have points in 10 of its last 11 games. Defenseman Maxime Fortunus and Teemu Pulkkinen also scored for Iowa. Hogs goalie Jeff Glass stopped 24 of 29 shots in defeat.
Iowa Wild
Through the first 46 games of the regular season, right wing Teemu Pulkkinen leads the club with 13 goals and 28 points in 36 games played. Pulkkinen also leads the team in power-play goals (4), first goals (5), game-winning goals (4) and shots (117). Veteran center Pat Cannone is tied with Alex Tuch for second in scoring with 22 points each. Cannone has 16 assists and six goals in 43 games played. Tuch has 11 goals and 11 assists for 22 points in 34 games played. Rookie forward Mario Lucia is fourth on the tam with 21 points in 37 games played. Lucia has eight goals and 13 assists. Gustav Olofsson is fifth in scoring with 20 points. He has five goals and 20 points to lead all defensemen in scoring in 43 games played.
Veteran Alex Stalock and Steve Michalek split time in net for Iowa. Stalock is 14-10-4 with a 2.56 GAA and a .916 SV%. Michalek is 8-9-1 with a 2.67 GAA and a .920 SV%.
Iowa’s power play sits 18th in the league after going 29-for-167 (17.4%). The Wild’s penalty kill sits 15th after stopping 141-of-172 (82.0%).
Notables –
● Iowa goes for a team record eighth straight road win on Friday.
● The Wild picked up its eighth win in the month of January on Saturday, setting a new team record for wins in a month.
● Defenseman Maxime Fortunus is set to become the 38th player in AHL history with 800 career games this Friday.
Cleveland Monsters
Center TJ Tynan leads the Monsters with 20 assists and 25 points through 41 games played. He is also tied for the team lead with nine power-play points. Left wing Sonny Milano and center Alex Broadhurst are tied for second in scoring with 22 points each. Milano has nine goals and 13 assists in 34 games played. Broadhurst has nine goals and 13 assists in 40 games played. Right wing Olivier Bjorkstrand is fourth in scoring with 21 points in 32 games played. Bjorkstrand leads the team with 12 goals. John Ramage leads all defensemen in scoring with 15 points in 34 games played.
Goalies Anton Forsberg and Brad Thiessen share time in net for Cleveland. Forsberg is 13-9-2 with a 2.29 GAA and a .926 SV %. Thiessen is 1-3-0 with a 2.55 GAA and a .919 SV %. Forsberg has started four of the last six games.
Cleveland’s power play is 24th, going 21-for-134 (15.7%). The Monsters are 4th on the penalty kill, stopping 152-of-180 (84.4%).