Griffins edge Iowa, 4-3

DES MOINES, IA – The Iowa Wild (1-2-0-0, 2 points) was defeated by the Grand Rapids Griffins (3-0-0-0, 6 points) 4-3 on Tuesday night in front of 3,225 fans at Wells Fargo Arena. Trailing 3-1 heading into the third period, Grand Rapids used its power play and a late goal from Kris Criscuolo to push in front of the Wild. Griffins forward Anthony Mantha led the charge with a hat trick, scoring all three goals on the power play. Griffins’ goalie Jared Coreau (3-0-0) remained undefeated by stopping 17 Iowa shots. Wild center Grayson Downing and defenseman Zach Palmquist each picked up two points in the defeat. Rookie Joel Eriksson Ek added a goal in his North American debut for the Wild. Iowa goalie Alex Stalock (0-2-0) stopped 26 of 30 in defeat. Iowa hosts Charlotte this Friday at 7 PM at Wells Fargo Arena.

Iowa opened the scoring at 6:38 of the first period, just as a Wild penalty expired. Wild forward Jeff Hoggan intercepted a pass in the Griffins zone and shot the puck past his former teammate goalie Jared Coreau. Hoggan’s first of the season was unassisted in his Iowa debut, putting the Wild up 1-0 through one period of play.

At 8:31 of the second period, Griffins forward Anthony Mantha scored his third goal of the season, tying the game 1-1. Defensemen Nathan Paetsch and forward Matt Lorito helped set up the Griffins first goal of the night. Iowa regained the lead at 12:53 after Grayson Downing set up defenseman Zach Palmquist with a one-timer from the top of the left-wing circle. Forward Mario Lucia also added an assist on Palmquist’s first goal of the season. The Wild lead grew to 3-1 at 19:26, as Palmquist and Downing set up rookie Joel Eriksson Ek. In his North American debut, Eriksson Ek blasted a one-timer past Coreau for the two-goal lead after two periods.

In the third, the Griffins mounted a comeback starting at 1:32 of the period. Grand Rapids worked the puck back to the right-wing circle, where Mantha was waiting with a one-timer that beat Stalock for a power-play goal. Paetsch and Lorito each had a hand in the goal – Matha’s second of the night for the 3-2 Iowa lead.  Grand Rapids capitalized on the power play for the third time at 11:07 of the third period. Mantah collected a puck at the right point and snapped an unassisted goal through traffic and past Stalock for the 3-3 score, his fifth of the year. The Griffins capped off the comeback with 3:58 left in regulation, as Kris Criscuolo jammed in a rebound for his first goal of the year and a 4-3 Grand Rapids lead. Defenseman Conor Allen and forward Mitch Callahan set up Criscuolo’s first goal of the year.