RECORD ATTENDANCE OF 13,422 FANS SEE WILD ROAST HOGS 5-3
Nov 9, 2017Iowa Welcomes the Cleveland Monsters Saturday, Nov. 11 at 7 p.m.
DES MOINES, IA – The Iowa Wild (4-6-2-0, 10 points) defeated the Rockford IceHogs (7-5-0-0, 14 points) 5-3 in front of 13,422 fans on Thursday at Wells Fargo Arena, which sets a record for the largest crowd at a professional hockey game ever in the state of Iowa.
Although Rockford outshot Iowa 36-17, the Wild power play was key in the division battle. Iowa converted on three of four power-play opportunities, which helped the club defeat Rockford for the first time this season.
There were multi-point games on each side of the ice, with Wild defenseman Ryan Murphy (1g, 2a) and forward Zack Mitchell (1g, 2a) each tallying three points in the win. IceHogs forwards Vinnie Hinostroza and Andreas Martinsen each tallied two points for the IceHogs. Wild goaltender Steve Michalek picked up a win in his season debut for the Wild, stopping 33 shots.
Iowa opened the scoring by capitalizing on their first two power-play opportunities of the first period. Cal O’Reilly, veteran forward and captain of the Iowa Wild, scored his third goal of the season at 5:37 of the period during Rockford forward Anthony Louis’ hooking penalty. On the play, defenseman Ryan Murphy shot the puck from the left point, and O’Reilly put in the rebound from the slot past IceHogs goaltender Collin Delia (12 saves) to give Iowa a 1-0 lead. Defenseman Alex Grant also picked up an assist on the power-play goal. Forward Zack Mitchell extended Iowa’s lead to 2-0 on the second power play of the game at 9:19 of the opening frame. Forward Justin Kloos centered the puck from the goal line, and after a shot by forward Kyle Rau, Mitchell beat Delia on the glove side for his first goal of the season. At 11:41 of the period, IceHogs defenseman Luc Snuggerud made it a 2-1 game. Defenseman Carl Dahlstrom and forward Andreas Martinsen each grabbed an assist on Snuggerud’s first goal of the year. Rockford outshot Iowa 14-6 in the first 20 minutes of the game.
At 6:46 of the second period, center Laurent Dauphin converted on a power play for the IceHogs, tying the game at 2. After the initial shot from forward Vinnie Hinostroza, the puck rebounded twice before Dauphin shot it through traffic from the right-wing circle to beat Michalek. Wild forward Mario Lucia gave Iowa the lead again at 11:54 of the period with his first goal of the season. From the right-wing circle, Mitchell passed the puck cross-ice to Lucia, who snapped a wrist shot to beat Delia on the short side. Murphy also picked up an assist on the even-strength goal. Shots in the middle frame were in favor of Rockford, who outshot Iowa, 10-7.
Iowa capitalized on another power play at 3:37 of the third period on Murphy’s first goal of the season. Murphy shot the puck from the left point, beating Delia on the stick side. Grant and O’Reilly each tallied an assist on the goal that made it a 4-2 game. IceHogs forward Vinnie Hinostroza cut the deficit to 4-3 at 12:40 of the third period by beating Michalek high stick side from the bottom of the left-wing circle. Forward Matthew Highmore added the only assist on Hinostroza’s fifth goal of the season. Wild forward Pat Cannone sealed a 5-3 victory for the home side at 18:54 of the third period with an empty-net goal. Mitchell and defenseman Carson Soucy each assisted Cannone’s fifth goal of the year.
The Wild welcomes the Cleveland Monsters on Saturday, Nov. 11 at 7 p.m. for Veterans Appreciation Night. Iowa and Cleveland face off again on Sunday, Nov. 12 at 5 p.m. at Wells Fargo Arena for Pucks N Paws Night presented by Anderson Animal Hospital.
The Iowa Wild 2017-18 season is presented by Mercy Medical Center and runs from October through April. For more information, please contact the Wild office by calling 515-564-8700 or by visiting www.iowawild.com.
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