GAME PREVIEW - GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS AT IOWA WILD 10.27
Oct 27, 2013Media Kit - HERE
Grand Rapids Griffins (3-2-1-1, 8 points) at Iowa Wild (4-1-0-0, 6 points)
The Iowa Wild continues a five-game homestand with the Grand Rapids Griffins. The Wild is coming off its third straight win, a 5-4 shootout victory at home over Chicago on Thursday. Thursday’s game marked the beginning of divisional play for Iowa. The Wild faces another Midwest Division opponent on Sunday against Grand Rapids. 40 of the team’s 76 regular season games will be against division rivals. The Griffins and the Wild will meet a total ten times during the season, including the next meeting, at Wells Fargo Arena on Wed. Nov. 22. Iowa will make it’s first of five visits to Van Andel Arena on Fri. Jan. 10. The Griffins are coming off an 3-2 win at Chicago on Saturday night.
Minnesota's AHL Affiliate was in Houston for the 2012-13 season, going 40-26-5-5 (90 points / .592 %). The Aeros met the Griffins six times last season, going 2-3-0-1. Over the last five years, Houston was 13-9-0-2 against Grand Rapids, including a 6-4-0-2 mark at home. The Griffins bested the Aeros in the first round of the 2013 Calder Cup Playoffs, winning the best-of-five series 3-2. Grand Rapids went on to claim the Calder Cup.
Upcoming Games:
Team Date Time Radio / TV
vs Grand Rapids 10/27 5:05 PM WHO 1040 – iHeart Radio
vs Texas 11/1 7:05 PM KXNO 1460 – iHeart Radio
vs Texas 11/2 7:05 PM KXNO 1460 / Mediacom 22
Latest Transactions:
10/27 – Add goaltender Johan Gustafsson (assigned by Minnesota – NHL)
10/19 – Delete goaltender John Curry (assigned to Orlando – ECHL)
10/18 – Add goaltender Darcy Kuemper (assigned by Minnesota – NHL)
Last Time Out:
The Iowa Wild defeated the Chicago Wolves 5-4 in a shootout in front of 4,318 fans at Wells Fargo Arena on Thursday night. Iowa forward Taylor Matson ended a sudden death shootout by beating Chicago goalie Jake Allen in the sixth round for the victory. In the previous round, Carson McMillan scored to force the sudden death shootout. After replacing Johan Gustafsson halfway through the game, Iowa goalie Darcy Kuemper was credited with the victory. Kuemper stopped all 21 shots in regulation and turned aside three of six in the shootout. Wild forwards Tyler Graovac, Raphael Bussieres, Kris Foucault and Brett Bulmer each scored in regulation. Chicago goalie Jake Allen was credited with the loss, he stopped 27 of 31 in regulation and two of six shootout attempts.
Iowa Wild
After five games, forwards Carson McMillan, Zack Phillips and Erik Haula lead the team in scoring. McMillan has two goals and four assists for six points in five games. The veteran forward has five points in his last two games, scoring twice and setting up three others. Second-year forward Zack Phillips is second on the team with five points in five games. Phillips has two goals and three assists. Forwards Kris Foucault and Erik Haula are tied for third on the team with four points each. Haula has a goal and three assists, while Foucault has two goals and two assists. Left wing Brett Bulmer leads the team in goals with three in five games. All goals three have come at home. Center Warren Peters has three assists in his first two games played. Right wing Jason Zucker has three assists in his first three games. Forwards Jake Dowell and Tyler Graovac are also among the team leaders for goals, each skater has two on the year.
Iowa is 3-for-17 (17.6%) on the power play and has allowed four power-play goals against on 23 attempts (82.6%) The Wild is fourth in the AHL with a 2.20 goals against average and the team sits third with a 3.60 goals per game average.
Goalies Johan Gustafsson and Darcy Kuemper man the nets for Iowa. Kuemper improved to 2-1-0 on the season. In three appearances, he has a 2.36 GAA and a .925 SV%. Gustafsson is 2-0-0 with a 1.99 GAA and a .935 SV %.
Notables –
- Defenseman Brian Connelly will play in his 299th AHL game on Sunday.
- Iowa has scored the first goal in each of the first five games. Grand Rapids has scored the first goal three times in its first seven games, going 1-1-0-1.
Grand Rapids Griffins
The Griffins return 17 players from last year’s team, which captured the Calder Cup in June. The team also features David McIntyre, who played for the Houston Aeros (now Iowa Wild) in each of the last two seasons. McIntyre played two full seasons in Houston, suiting up in 131 games for the Wild’s AHL affiliate, scoring 31 goals and totaling 65 points. He also played in seven games for the parent club. In all, McIntyre played with 15 members of the Iowa Wild team over the last two seasons.
Third-year forward Gustav Nyquist leads the Griffins in scoring with three goals and five assists for eight points in six games. Right wing Tomas Jurco and defenseman Adam Almquist are also among the team leaders for points. Jurco has two goals and five assists for seven points in seven games. Almquist leads the team with five assists on the season.
Goalies Petr Mrazek and Tom McCullom split time between the pipes for Grand Rapids. Mrazek is 1-2-1 with a 3.46 GAA and a .878 SV%. As a rookie, Mrazek was 15-9-0 with a 2.31 GAA and a .916 SV %, helping the Griffins win the Calder Cup last spring. McCullom is 2-0-0 with a 2.25 GAA and a .921 SV %.