GAME PREVIEW: IOWA WILD VS. CHARLOTTE CHECKERS

GAME PREVIEW: IOWA WILD VS. CHARLOTTE CHECKERS

Nov 14, 2025

Iowa Wild (4-7-0-1; 9 pts.) vs. Charlotte Checkers (6-4-1-0; 13 pts.) 

The Iowa Wild and Charlotte Checkers face off in the first game of a weekend series at Casey’s Center on Friday at 7 p.m. on Star Wars Night. Star Wars characters will roam the concourse and fans can purchase mystery pucks for $20 (proceeds benefit Special Olympics Iowa). Fans 21 and older may purchase $2 beers (ends at conclusion of first period) and Fireball drink specials presented by Fireball & 100.3 The Bus. 

WATCH: AHLTV on FloHockey 

LISTEN: 1460 AM and 106.3 FM on KXnO 

ALL-TIME SERIES 

All-Time Iowa Wild Record: 9-22-1-2 (4-11-0-1 at Iowa, 5-11-1-1 at Charlotte) 

Last Time: The Checkers defeated the Wild 4-1 on Oct. 18 to sweep a weekend series in Charlotte... Liam Öhgren scored Iowa’s lone goal... Nolan Foote scored the eventual game-winning goal at 6:49 of the second period... Samuel Hlavaj stopped 26-of-29 shots 

2024-25: Iowa and Charlotte faced off in a season series for the first time since 2016-17... The Checkers won all four games against the Wild... Caedan Bankier and Ryan Sandelin each scored two goals against Charlotte... Samuel Hlavaj allowed six goals in two starts... Trevor Carrick paced Checkers skaters with five points (1-4=5)... Cooper Black finished 3-0-0 with a 0.67 GAA and a 0.974 SV% 

TEAM NOTES 

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Iowa is seeking its first win against Charlotte since Nov. 27, 2016... The Wild went 0-4-0-0 against the Checkers in 2024-25... Iowa and Charlotte did not play between the 2017-18 and 2023-24 seasons... The Checkers have won eight games in a row over Iowa 

SPECIAL TEAMS STREAK SNAPPED: Iowa had killed off 19 opposing power plays in a row entering Sunday’s game against Rockford... Dominic Toninato scored on the man advantage at 3:05 of the third period to snap a seven-game streak of successful penalty kills 

ENTERING THE THIRD: Iowa is 2-0-0-0 when leading after two periods... The Wild are 2-0-0-1 when tied after 40 minutes 

SEEKING SCORING: Iowa has scored four goals once this season... The Wild are 3-7-0-1 when scoring three or fewer goals 

RECENT RECALLS 

  • David Spacek was recalled to the NHL for the first time in his career on Tuesday 

  • Spacek, 22, has played in 145 AHL games with Iowa and recorded 49 points (7-42=49) across three seasons 

  • Spacek leads Iowa in assists (6) and is tied for the team lead in points (6) 

  • Iowa recalled defenseman Stevie Leskovar from the Iowa Heartlanders on Thursday 

  • Leskovar made his professional debut with the Wild on Apr. 19, 2025 vs. Grand Rapids 

  • Leskovar has skated in three ECHL games with the Heartlanders this season 

ABOUT THE OPPONENT 

  • Goaltender Cooper Black started each of Charlotte’s first eight games 

  • Riese Gaber enters Friday’s game riding a three-game point streak (2-1=3) 

  • Charlotte has scored one power play goal in the last seven games 

  • The Checkers are 1-for-22 on the man advantage over the last seven contests 

  • Opponents have outshot Charlotte in three of the last four games 

For more information on Iowa Wild hockey, please visit www.iowawild.com. Fans can purchase single-game tickets through the team’s website at www.iowawild.com. Group tickets (10 or more), suites, Wild 365 memberships or premium tickets can be purchased by contacting the Iowa Wild Ticket Department at 515-564-8700 or tickets@iowawild.com. Season tickets for 2025-26 are on sale now. Fans can purchase season tickets for the upcoming season at https://www.iowawild.com/wild-365

Visit http://www.iowawild.com/pressbox for the latest news and information from the team including press releases, game notes, multimedia content, and daily statistics.   

Iowa Wild games are now streaming on AHLTV on FloHockey. Fans can visit FloHockey.tv now to create a free account, purchase subscriptions for the 2024-25 season, and watch all Iowa Wild games online.    

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