O’ROURKE AND WALKER LIFT IOWA TO 2-1 WIN OVER TUCSON

Feb 9, 2024

GAME REPORT 

DES MOINES, Iowa – The Iowa Wild leaned on a pair of goals from Sammy Walker and Ryan O’Rourke to earn a 2-1 victory over the Tucson Roadrunners on Friday night at Wells Fargo Arena. Jesper Wallstedt turned aside 26-of-27 shots in the win. 

Iowa outshot Tucson 11-7 in a scoreless opening period.  

Walker and the Wild broke through 7:15 into the middle frame. After Nic Petan knocked the puck across the blue line, Walker pulled it off the wall, drove the net, and tucked a backhand shot past Matthew Villalta (29 saves). 

Iowa carried the 1-0 lead into the second intermission and outshot Tucson 25-17 through the first 40 minutes. 

O’Rourke padded Iowa’s lead at 3:38 of the third when Greg Meireles sent a pass up to the left point for a one-timer over the glove hand of Villalta. Adam Raska also earned an assist on the goal. 

Josh Doan fired a one-timer over Wallstedt with 1:51 to play, but the Wild held off the Roadrunners for the remainder of regulation to close out the win. 

Iowa outshot Tucson 31-27. The Wild were 0-for-7 on the man advantage and held the Roadrunners scoreless on six power play opportunities.  

Iowa and Tucson meet again at Wells Fargo Arena on Saturday at 6 p.m. for Pink in the Rink. The Wild will wear pink specialty jerseys and hold a postgame auction with proceeds benefiting the John Stoddard Cancer Center. The first 5,000 fans will receive a pink LED wristband for a first intermission light-up ceremony. 

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 2023-24 are on sale now. Fans can purchase season tickets for the upcoming season at https://www.iowawild.com/wild-365. 

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