GAME PREVIEW - IOWA WILD AT LAKE ERIE MONSTERS 2.27.15
Feb 27, 2015Iowa Wild (18-37-1-1, 38 points) at Lake Erie Monsters (24-21-4-3, 55 points)
Iowa returns to the road with four straight away from Wells Fargo Arena. Iowa begins its four-game trip with a pair of games in Lake Erie with the Monsters. Iowa swept a pair of games in Des Moines on Jan. 17 and 18, outscoring Lake Erie 8-4. The Wild improved to 5-1-0-0 in six all-time meetings with the Monsters. Iowa is 1-1-0-0 in two visits to Lake Erie, while the Monsters are 1-0-0-1 at home and 1-3-1-1 all-time.
Iowa is 10-18-1-1 on the road this season, having been outscored103-74 by the home teams. The Wild is coming off a 6-2 loss to Grand Rapids at home on Tuesday. With the loss, Iowa tied a team record of eight straight defeats on home ice and surpassed the team mark for regulation losses in a season (36 in 13-14). Iowa is 3-14-0-0 over the last 17 games. The Wild is 2-8-0-0 over the last 10 games, while the Monsters are 5-5-0-0. Lake Erie is 13-11-0-2 at home, outscored by the visitors 79-70. The Monsters are coming off a 5-1 loss at home to Rochester on Tuesday. Lake Erie has dropped five of its last eight games.
Upcoming Games:
Team Date Time Radio / TV
at Lake Erie 2/27 6:30 PM CT KXNO / iHeartRadio
at Lake Erie 2/28 6:00 PM CT KXNO / iHeartRadio
at Texas 3/6 7:30 PM KXNO / iHeartRadio
at San Antonio 3/7 7:00 PM KXNO / iHeartRadio
vs. Utica 3/15 5:00 PM KXNO / iHeartRadio
Transactions:
2.23.15 – Add – D Steve McCarthy (signed PTO)
2.24.15 – Add – F Michael Keranen (assigned by Minnesota – NHL)
2.26.15 – Delete – D Joe Stejskal (released PTO – returns to Gwinnett – ECHL)
2.26.15 – Delete – F Ryan Walters (assigned to Alaska - ECHL)
Last Time Out
The Iowa Wild were defeated by the Grand Rapids Griffins 6-2 in front of 4,122 fans on Tuesday at Wells Fargo Arena. Grand Rapids scored twice in the first period and four times in the second period to get past Iowa. Seven different Griffins recorded multi-point games in the victory. Rookie forward Marek Tvrdon led the way with two goals. Grand Rapids goalie Petr Mrazek stopped 31 of 33 shots for the road win. Iowa goalie Johan Gustafsson made two saves on four shots to record the loss and was replaced by John Curry after 4:37 of work. Curry stopped 23 of 27 shots in relief. Forwards Olivier Archambault and Marc Hagel scored for Iowa in the defeat.
Iowa Wild
Through 57 games this season, forward Tyler Graovac is the team’s leading scorer. He leads the team in goals with 17 tallies and is first with 38 points in 54 games. Returned on Wednesday, Michael Keranen is second on the team in scoring with 32 points and was first with 23 assists in 52 games. On recall to Minnesota, forward Jordan Schroeder was third on the club in points with 10 goals and 18 assists for 28 points in 35 games played. Right wing Marc Hagel is third among active skaters with a career-high 27 points in 48 games played. Rookie Zack Mitchell is fifth among active skaters with 15 goals and 25 points in 57 games played. Defenseman Jon Blum is the leader in points from the blueline. He has eight goals and 25 points in 47 games played. Veteran center Brett Sutter is also among the team leaders with 20 points in 52 games played.
Goalies Johan Gustafsson, John Curry and Josh Harding (injured) man the Iowa Wild crease. Harding is 0-1-1 with a 3.37 GAA and a .920 SV%. John Curry is 8-15-0 with a 2.97 GAA and a 0.909 SV%. Gustafsson is 8-18-0 with a 3.36 GAA and a .898 SV %.
Iowa’s power play is ranked 23rd at 16.7%, while the penalty kill sits 30th at 76.4%.
Notables –
· Wild forward Marc Hagel played in his 100th career AHL on Tuesday at home against Grand Rapids. His first six AHL games were with Lake Erie, whom he made his AHL debut for on Apr. 3, 2013 at Toronto. He has 94 games with Iowa.
· Offensively, Iowa is 28th (2.28 GPG) and Lake Erie is 19th (2.73 GPG).
· Defensively, the Wild is 29th (3.33 GAA) and the Monsters are 27th (3.25 GAA).
Lake Erie Monsters
Through the first 52 games this season, center Joey Hishon is tied for the team lead in scoring with 30 points in 48 games played. Hishon is third on the team with 12 goals and third with 18 assists. Maxim Noreau is tied for first on the Monsters in scoring with eight goals and 22 assists for 30 total points, good enough for ninth best in the AHL among defenseman. Left wing Andrew Agozzino is third on the club with 29 points in 50 games played. He leads the team with 15 goals and 139 shots on goal. Center Colin Smith is fourth on the club with 10 goals and 27 points in 44 games played. Forward Daniel Maggio is second in the AHL with 17 major penalties this season. He leads the Monsters with 151 minutes in penalties in 31 games played. Center Mitchell Heard is also among the team leaders with 80 PIMS in 35 games.
Playing 12 games this season, goalie Sami Aittokallio (5-4-1) is posting a 3.11 GAA and a .899 SV%. Goalie Calvin Pickard gets the bulk of time in net with 29 appearances. He is (14-10-4) with a 2.74 GAA and a .911 SV%. Pickard also has 15 games in the NHL with Colorado. He is 6-6-3 with a 2.18 GAA and a .936 SV% with the Avalanche.
Lake Erie’s power play is ranked at 16th in the AHL at 16.7%, while its penalty kill is ranked 11th at 84.8%.