WILD EARNS 2-1 VICTORY IN TEAM’S PINK IN THE RINK GAME
Feb 10, 2018Wild forward Kurtis Gabriel scored his first goal of the season in the win
DES MOINES, IOWA – Iowa Wild (24-15-7-3; 58 points) sent 9,725 Wild fans home happy as the team defeated Rockford IceHogs (25-20-3-3; 56 points) 2-1 in the team’s annual Pink in the Rink game. Iowa took sole possession of second place in the Central Division with the win.
For the first time in four games, Iowa scored the game’s opening goal. At 5:55 in the first period, defenseman Brennan Menell received a pass at the blueline from forward Colton Beck and sent a shot on net. In the slot, forward Kurtis Gabriel redirected Menell’s shot past IceHogs goaltender J-F Berube (27 saves) to take a 1-0 lead.
Rockford evened things up at 1-1 at 7:41 in the first period when IceHogs forward Tyler Sikura redirected a shot from Ville Pokka past Wild goaltender Niklas Svedberg (36 saves).
The teams were tied at 1-1 while Rockford led in shots 12-9 at the end of the first period.
It wasn’t until 7:31 in the third period did Iowa break the deadlock. With the Wild on the power play, Wild forward Cal O’Reilly circled behind the Rockford net before finding forward Sam Anas, who fed a pass to forward Justin Kloos at the right faceoff dot. Kloos one-timed the shot and beat Berube cleanly for a power-play goal, giving the Wild a 2-1 lead.
As the game wound down, Svedberg withstood a frenzy in front of his net, stopping four point-blank shots to keep the puck out of the net as Iowa hung on to earn the 2-1 victory. Svedberg’s win was his seventh in his last eight games.
Iowa continues its five-game homestand with a game against Pacific Division foe San Antonio Rampage. Puck drop is at 7:00 p.m.
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.