WILD SECURE ONE POINT IN OVERTIME LOSS TO ICEHOGS
Mar 7, 2021
Iowa Wild (3-5-2-0; 8 pts.) grabbed one point but fell in overtime to the Rockford IceHogs (3-7-1-0; 7 pts.), 4-3 at BMO Harris Bank Center in Rockford, Ill. Wild forward Gabriel Dumont tied the Wild franchise record point streak of ten games, forward Connor Dewar netted a pair of goals for the first time in his AHL career and defenseman Calen Addison contributed a three-assist performance in the loss.
Rockford opened the scoring at 8:19 of the first period courtesy of forward Andrei Altybarmakian. The rookie jammed a puck through the pads of Wild goaltender Hunter Jones (21 saves) to make it 1-0 IceHogs.
Iowa scored on the power play at 18:57 of the first stanza to tie the game at 1-1. Forward Connor Dewar sent a wrist shot through a screen from the left circle passed IceHogs’ goaltender Collin Delia (27 saves). Addison and Dumont recorded the assists.
The first period ended with the game tied at 1-1 with Rockford outshooting Iowa 9-7.
Evan Barratt put the IceHogs back out in front with a slap shot over the right shoulder of Jones at 2:35 of the second period, 2-1 Rockford.
Iowa responded with Dewar’s second goal of the game less than two minutes later at 4:21 of the second stanza. Addison dished a cross-ice pass from the right point to forward Mitchell Chaffee at the left circle, who sent the puck into the crease where Dewar dove to tuck home the tying goal.
Just over two minutes later at 6:24 of the middle period, the Wild capitalized on a five-on-three power play to take the lead, 3-2. Addison feathered a pass from the right dot to the left post where Damien Giroux tapped in the go-ahead goal. Forward Mason Shaw picked up the secondary assist.
Iowa carried a 3-2 lead into the second intermission and outshot the IceHogs 14-5 during the second period, for two period totals of 21 for Iowa and 14 for Rockford.
Rockford forward DJ Busdeker scored at 8:11 of the third period on a back-door finish at the left post, tying the game 3-3.
For the second time in the season series overtime was required, as the third period ended tied 3-3 with the Wild leading in shots 30-24 after 60 minutes.
Unlike the Feb. 13 overtime contest with Iowa, it was Rockford with the final say in the game as Altybarmakian scored his second of the night 1:16 into the extra session bringing the final score to 4-3 IceHogs.
The Wild went 2-4 on the man-advantage and killed all five IceHogs’ power plays on the night.
Iowa returns home to square off with the Chicago Wolves on Saturday, Mar. 13. Puck drop is set for 6 p.m. CT at Wells Fargo Arena.
Iowa Wild hockey is presented by MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center. For more information, please visit www.iowawild.com. (Photo in story courtesy of Todd Reicher/Rockford IceHogs).