Iowa clip IceHogs, 3-1

DES MOINES, IA  – The Iowa Wild (33-30-6-2, 74 points) defeated the Rockford IceHogs (24-33-9-3, 60 points) 3-1 on Thursday night in front of 4,117 fans at Wells Fargo Arena. Wild forwards Tyler Graovac, Christoph Bertschy and Colton Beck each scored a goal for Iowa in the win over Rockford. Wild goalie Alex Stalock (22-16-7) stopped 27 of 28 shots in the victory. IceHogs goalie Lars Johansson (12-15-4) stopped 28 of 31 shots in the loss. Forward Jeremy Langlois scored the lone goal for the IceHogs in the defeat. Iowa visits Chicago on Saturday at 7 PM.

Iowa opened the scoring at 4:04 of the first period. Wild forward Tyler Graovac scored his ninth goal of the season, giving Iowa a 1-0 lead. The power-play goal was set up rookie forward Luke Kunin and defenseman Mike Reilly. Kunin shot the puck from the left-wing circle, and Graovac scored off the rebound, beating Rockford goalie Johansson on the high stick side.

After a scoreless middle frame, Rockford forward Jeremy Langlois scored at 5:31 of the third period, tying the game 1-1. Langlois’ eighth goal of the year was assisted by forward Kyle Baun. Baun dropped pass at the top of left-wing circle for Langlois and he shot the puck through traffic to beat Stalock. At 11:17 of the third period, forward Christoph Bertschy scored his 11th goal of the season, making it a 2-1 game. The go-ahead goal was set up by defensemen Gustav Olofsson and Zach Palmquist. Bertschy’s wrist shot from the left-wing circle beat Johansson on the glove side. Forward Colton Beck extended Iowa’s lead to 3-1 at 16:24 of the third period. Reilly helped set up Beck’s fourth goal of the season. Beck carried the puck through the Rockford zone and beat Johansson on the stick side for a 3-1 final score.