GAME PREVIEW - IOWA WILD AT LAKE ERIE MONSTERS 10.16.15

Oct 16, 2015

MEDIA KIT - HERE

Iowa Wild (0-1-0-1, 1 Point) at Lake Erie Monsters (0-1-0-0, 0 Points)

Iowa and Lake Erie are both looking for their first victory of the season in their Friday night matchup at Quicken Loans Arena. The two teams will meet again on Saturday night to complete the weekend set. The two teams met four times in the 2014-15 season. The Wild swept the Monsters in the season series with two regulation and two overtime victories, outscoring Lake Erie 13-7 in the process. Three of their four games were decided by one goal in 2014-15. Iowa is 7-1-0-0 all-time against Lake Erie and 3-1-0-0 in Cleveland. The game will be Lake Erie’s first home game of the season as they hope to improve on a 3-4-0-0 all-time record in home openers.

Last season, Iowa was 13-23-1-1 on the road, outscored by the home teams 122-86. Lake Erie was 18-15-3-2 on home ice, outscored by the visitors 115-100. Iowa is coming off a 5-4 shootout loss at home to Charlotte on Sunday, as the Monsters dropped a 5-3 decision at Rochester last Friday.

Upcoming Games:

Team                           Date    Time               Radio / TV

at Lake Erie                 10/16   6:00 PM CT    iHeartRadio

at Lake Erie                 10/17   4:00 PM CT    KXNO / iHeartRadio

Milwaukee                   10/20   7:00 PM CT    KXNO / iHeartRadio

at Rockford                  10/21   7:00 PM CT    KXNO / iHeartRadio

Texas                            10/24  7:00 PM CT    KXNO / iHeartRadio

Transactions:

10-12-15: Loss – Guillaume Gelinas – Assigned to Quad City (ECHL)

10-12-15: Loss – Matthew Neal – Released from PTO – returns to to Quad City (ECHL)

10.11.15 – Add – F Jordan Schroeder (assigned by Minnesota- NHL)

Last Time Out

The Iowa Wild were defeated by the Charlotte Checkers 5-4 in a shootout at Wells Fargo Arena. Forward Brady Brassart notched two goals and an assist in the contest, while forwards Ruslan Fedotenko and Christoph Bertschy enjoyed two-point nights. Charlotte forward Sergey Tolchinsky scored in the shootout to earn the extra point for the Checkers. Charlotte goaltender Rasmus Tirronen (1-0-0) got the victory in a relief effort and Jeremy Smith (0-1-1) had 40 saves on 44 shots in the Iowa loss.

Iowa Wild

Iowa is looking for its first victory and is 1-1-0-0 all-time in road openers. The Wild bring in a power play at 14.3% and a penalty kill at 70%. Forward Brady Brassart (2g-1a-3pts) leads the team in points through two games. Rookie forward Christoph Bertschy (1-1-2) is tied for second on the team in points and tied for second in the league amongst rookies. Goalie Jeremy Smith (0-1-0-1) leads the league with 79 saves through two games.

Notables:

·       Kurtis Gabriel is continuing to serve his three-game suspension. He is eligible to return on Saturday, October 17th.

·       Center Brett Sutter played in his 600th pro game on Sunday, while D-man Maxime Fortunus played in his 700th AHL game.

·       Brassart recorded the first three-point night of his career on Sunday versus Charlotte.

·       Rookie Christoph Bertschy scored his first North American goal on Sunday, also the Wild’s first shorthanded goal of the year.

Lake Erie Monsters

The Lake Erie Monsters made some changes from last season. The team changed their affiliation from the Colorado Avalanche to the Columbus Blue Jackets, bringing in a new coaching staff behind Jared Bednar. Columbus had been affiliated with the Springfield Falcons over the last five years. The Falcons were 38-28-8-2 in 2014-15, missing the playoffs by a few points. The team was 1st in the Northeast Division in 2012-13 and 2013-14.

Second-year forward T.J. Tynan led the Falcons in scoring last year with 35 assists and 48 points in 75 games played. The team also features Ryan Craig, who tallied 17 goals and 37 points in 67 games played.

Anton Forsberg (0-1-0-0) started the first game of the season for Lake Erie and saved 18 of the 23 shots he faced. Center Alex Broadhurst leads the team in scoring with a pair of assists in their season-opening loss at Rochester.

Lake Erie went 2-4 on the power play in its first game and sits tied for second in the league on the power play at 50%. The Monsters penalty kill went 3-for-4 and sits 21st at 75%.

The Monsters feature defenseman Justin Falk, who played for the Iowa Wild in 2014-15 before he was traded to Columbus by Minnesota at the trade deadline. 

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