GAME PREVIEW - IOWA WILD AT GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS 11.11.15

Nov 11, 2015

 MEDIA KIT HERE 

Iowa Wild (3-8-1-2, 9 points) at Grand Rapids Griffins (1-7-0-0, 2 points)

Iowa and Grand Rapids meet for the first of eight meetings this season. Iowa returns to GR on Nov. 25, prior to hosting the Griffins on Dec. 13. Iowa is coming off a 3-2 loss at home on Sunday to Lake Erie, extending the team’s winless streak to three games at 0-2-0-1. The Griffins are coming off a 4-1 loss at home to Rockford on Nov. 6 – which extended the team’s winless streak to three (0-3-0-0). Over that span, the team has been outscored 13-3. The Griffins have dominated the all-time series by going12-2-0-0 in 14 all-time meetings. Grand Rapids is 5-2-0-0 at home, while Iowa is 2-5-0-0 at Van Andel Arena.  Iowa is 2-11-1-0 all-time against the Griffins. The Griffins took all four meetings last year outscoring Iowa 25-7. Dating back to 2013-14, Grand Rapids has taken the last seven meetings over Iowa. The Wild’s last win in the series came on Mar. 8, 2014 – a 3-1 win at Van Andel Arena.

Iowa is 1-3-0-0 on the road this season, having been outscored 11-4 by the home teams. The team has been shutout in each of the last two road games – dating back to Oct. 21 at Rockford. The Wild is 2-6-1-1 over its last 10 games. Grand Rapids is 1-4-0-0 at home this season, having been outdueled by the visiting teams 17-8. The team was 23-10-4-1 last season at home, outscoring the visitors 134-51.

Upcoming Games:

Team                           Date    Time               Radio / TV

at Grand Rapids             11/11              6:00 PM CT    KXNO / iHeartRadio (full stream – joined in progress)

vs. Rockford                   11/13 7:00 PM CT    KXNO / iHeartRadio

vs. Rockford                   11/14 7:00 PM CT    KXNO / iHeartRadio

vs. Lake Erie                  11/20              7:00 PM CT    KXNO / iHeartRadio

vs. Lake Erie                  11/21              12:30 PM CT  KXNO / iHeartRadio

Transactions:

11.6.15: Add – C Grayson Downing assigned by Minnesota (NHL)

11.7.15: Add – F Tanner Eberle recalled from Quad City (ECHL)

11.8.15: Add – F Christoph Bertschy assigned by Minnesota (NHL)

11.11.15: Add – F Kurtis Gabriel assigned by Minnesota (NHL)

Last Time Out

The Iowa Wild were defeated by the Lake Erie Monsters 3-2 in front of 4,004 fans at Wells Fargo Arena on Sunday afternoon. The Monsters used three unanswered goals from defenseman Andrew Bodnarchuk, forward Trent Vogelhuber, and forward Josh Anderson to come from behind and pick up the road win. Lake Erie goalie Anton Forsberg stopped 14 of 16 shots for his fourth victory of the season. Iowa goalie Jeremy Smith made 17 saves on 20 shots in the loss. The Wild received goals from defenseman Zach Palmquist and forward Kellan Lain.

Iowa Wild

Forwards Michael Keranen and Christoph Bertschy lead Iowa in scoring with six points, and in assists with four. Defensemen Mike Reilly is tied for third on the team in points with five. Reilly leads all defensemen with two goals. Reilly, Fortunus, and Gustav Olofsson lead all defensemen in assists with three. Forwards Brady Brassart, Andrew Yogan, and Matt Carey round off the top scorers with three points each. The team is without Jordan Schroeder, who remains on NHL call up to Minnesota.  He had five points in eight games prior to going to the NHL.

Goalie Jeremy Smith (1-6-1) is among the league leaders with 284 saves through eight games played. He has a 3.10 GAA and a .919 SV%. Leland Irving has made six appearances, going 2-2-2 with a 1.94 GAA and a .940 SV%.

Iowa ranks 29th after going 5-for-55 (9.1%) on the power play. The team is 50-for-60 (83.3%) on the penalty kill – 17th in the AHL.

Notables:

·      Iowa winger Kurtis Gabriel made his NHL debut last night for Minnesota at home against Winnipeg.

Grand Rapids Griffins

The Grand Rapids Griffins are two years removed from winning the Calder Cup and made it to the 2014-15 Western Conference finals before getting eliminated. Grand Rapids experienced a coaching change this summer as Jeff Blashill was promoted to the NHL and is now head coaching the Detroit Red Wings. New head coach Todd Nelson steps in to fill Blashill’s shoes. Nelson coached in Oklahoma City and Edmonton last season.

Defenseman Ryan Sproul currently leads the team in points, with five in eight games. Andy Miele leads all forwards in points with one goal and three assists for four points. Miele led the Griffins in scoring last season with 70 points. Rounding out the top scorers for the Griffins and leading the team in goals is right wing Martin Frk. He has three goals in six games.

The Griffins have split the goaltending through eight games this season. Tom McCollum (0-5-0-0) has made five appearances, posting 3.19 GAA and .899 SV%. Jared Coreau (1-2-0-0) holds a 3.13 GAA and .904 SV% through three appearances.

Grand Rapids is 6-for-40 on the power play and sits 18th at 15.0%. The Griffins penalty kill 28-for-38 and 29th at 73.7%.

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