ONTARIO, Calif. – Samuel Hlavaj turned aside all 34 shots by the Ontario Reign to earn his first AHL shutout and lift the Iowa Wild to a 5-0 victory at Toyota Arena on Friday night. Graeme Clarke (2-1=3) and Liam Öhgren (0-3=3) each registered three points in the win.
Caedan Bankier squeezed a shot from the half wall inside the post at 2:48 of the first period with an assist from Luke Toporowski.
Clarke beat Pheonix Copley (12 saves) with backhand finishes off rebounds at 10:28 and 19:14 to give Iowa a 3-0 lead heading into the first intermission. Öhgren and Hunter Haight assisted on each of Clarke’s goals.
Iowa outshot Ontario 15-11 in the opening 20 minutes. Erik Portillo (nine saves) replaced Copley after the first intermission.
The Wild struck again with 1:00 remaining in the middle frame. After Clarke and Öhgren combined to find Carson Lambos in the left circle, Lambos elevated a short side shot over the shoulder of Portillo.
Ontario outshot Iowa 24-21 through two periods.
Adam Raska netted his first goal of the season off a backhand centering feed from Sammy Walker with 12:18 to play.
Ontario outshot Iowa 34-26. The Wild did not skate with the man advantage and held the Reign scoreless on one power play opportunity.
Iowa and Ontario play again at Toyota Arena on Sunday, Jan. 12 at 5 p.m.