MOOSE HOLD OFF WILD IN 4-3 DEFEAT
Dec 23, 2022
DES MOINES, Iowa – The Iowa Wild peppered Manitoba Moose goaltender Arvid Holm with a barrage of shots over the second and third periods Friday night, but the Moose rallied for a pair of late goals to take a 4-3 win over Iowa.
Andrej Šustr opened the scoring at 1:08 of the middle frame following a scoreless first period in which Iowa outshot Manitoba 7-6. Nic Petan fed a pass to Šustr through the slot, who finished it over the shoulder of Holm (35 saves) for his first goal in a Wild uniform. Sammy Walker was also credited with an assist on the play.
Manitoba knotted the game at 1-1 with a power-play goal at 6:01 of the second period when Leon Gawanke fired a one-timer under the glove of Jesper Wallstedt (22 saves).
The Wild responded 22 seconds later when Ty Ronning took a shot from the right circle and picked up his own rebound. Ronning circled behind the net and tucked it behind Holm to make the score 2-1. Damien Giroux and Ryan O’Rourke were credited with assists on the goal.
Henri Nikkanen tied the game again at 10:44 of the second when he got behind the Wild defense and chipped the puck past Wallstedt.
The teams entered the second intermission tied at 2-2 with the Wild leading the Moose 23-18 in shots.
The Moose took their first lead of the game when Jeff Malott tipped a Declan Chisholm shot by Wallstedt at 14:45 of the third period on the power play.
Cole Maier extended Manitoba’s lead with 1:53 remaining with an empty net goal to make the score 4-2.
The Wild continued fighting to tie the contest and Dakota Mermis made it a one-goal game with 31 seconds remaining. Mermis scored his second of the season with assists from Marco Rossi and Michael Milne when he launched a puck from the blue line past Holm.
Iowa outshot Manitoba 38-26. The Wild went 0-for-3 on the power play while the Moose were 2-for-4 with the man advantage.
The Iowa Wild play the Colorado Eagles at Wells Fargo Arena on Wednesday, Dec. 28 at 6:00 p.m.
Iowa Wild hockey is presented by MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center. For more information, 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 memberships or premium tickets can be purchased by contacting the Iowa Wild Ticket Department at 515-564-8700 or tickets@iowawild.com. The 2022-23 season marks the 10th anniversary of Iowa Wild hockey. Fans can purchase season tickets for the 10th anniversary season at https://www.iowawild.com/wild-365.
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