GAME PREVIEW: IOWA WILD VS. CHICAGO WOLVES
Dec 27, 2025Iowa Wild (8-20-0-1; 17 pts.) vs. Chicago Wolves (13-7-3-3; 32 pts.)
The Iowa Wild host the Chicago Wolves on Christmas Vacation Night at Casey’s Center on Saturday at 6 p.m. The first 1,500 fans will receive a Christmas Vacation t-shirt presented by Flix Brewhouse and 107.5 KISS FM.
WATCH: AHLTV on FloHockey
LISTEN: 1460 AM and 106.3 FM on KXnO
ALL-TIME SERIES
All-Time Iowa Wild Record: 40-58-9-3 (21-30-4-2 at Iowa, 19-28-5-1 at Chicago)
Last Time: Iowa entered the holiday break with a 1-0 shootout victory over Chicago on Dec. 20 at Allstate Arena... Riley Mercer stopped 26-of-26 shots to earn the shutout in his AHL debut... Caedan Bankier scored the game-winning goal in the fifth round of the shootout... Cayden Primeau saved 24 shots for the Wolves
2024-25: Iowa finished 2-5-1-0 against Chicago in 2024-25... Michael Milne (4-1=5) and Hunter Haight (3-2=5) paced Wild skaters in points against the Wolves... Justin Robidas led Chicago with nine points (3-6=9) against Iowa... The Wolves won six of the last seven meetings between the two clubs
TEAM NOTES
SENSATIONAL DEBUT: Riley Mercer became the second goaltender in Iowa Wild history to earn a shutout in their first AHL start on Saturday at Chicago... Johan Gustafsson saved 27 shots in a 1-0 victory over Oklahoma City in his AHL debut to earn the franchise’s first win on Oct. 12, 2013... Leland Irving stopped 37 shots in his Iowa debut in a 1-0 shootout win at Lake Erie on Oct. 17, 2015... C.J. Motte turned aside 34 shots in a 3-0 win at Cleveland in his Iowa debut on Dec. 18, 2017
SHUTOUT STAT: Iowa has shut out their opponent in each of the team’s last three wins
SEASON SERIES: The Wolves have outshot the Wild in each of the first four meetings this season... Iowa has scored four goals over the four games
PLAY BY PERIOD: The Wild have been outshot in the third period in eight games in a row
CAPTAIN’S RETURN
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Ben Jones played his first game with Iowa since Oct. 12 on Saturday at Chicago
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Iowa’s captain has recorded two points (0-2=2) through three games
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Jones has skated in 20 NHL games with Minnesota this season
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
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Chicago is riding a six-game point streak (4-0-2) and has points in nine of the last 10 games (6-1-3)
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The Wolves have allowed two goals or fewer in each of the last five games
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One of Chicago’s two shutout losses this season has come against Iowa
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 2026-27 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 2025-26 season, and watch all Iowa Wild games online.