Iowa Earns Point In Shootout Defeat

DES MOINES, IA – The Iowa Wild (0-1-0-1, 1 point) were defeated by the Charlotte Checkers (2-0-0-0, 4 points) 5-4 in a shootout in front of 3,444 fans at Wells Fargo Arena on Sunday evening.  Charlotte erased a three-goal deficit in the final period with goals from Derek Ryan, Brett Pesce and Trevor Carrick, helping the Checkers rally and win in a shootout. Center Brady Brassart’s (2 G, 1 A) three-point night was not enough for an Iowa victory. Forwards Christoph Bertschy (1,1) and Ruslan Fedotenko (2 A) both enjoyed two-point nights, as Iowa earned its first point of the season. Forward Jordan Schroeder also scored for Iowa in his return to the AHL. Charlotte goalie Rasmus Tirronen (1-0-0) got the victory in a relief appearance of Drew MacIntyre. Wild goalie Jeremy Smith (0-1-1) stopped 40 of 44 shots in regulation, but suffered the shootout loss. Iowa travels to Cleveland for a pair of games at Lake Erie on Oct. 16 and Oct. 17.

Forward Justin Shugg opened up the scoring at 8:01 of the first period. Shugg threw the puck at the net from the left circle and beat Smith on the blocker side for his first goal of the season. Forward Brady Brassart answered for the Wild at 17:45 of the period for his first point of the season. Brassart picked up the puck in front of the net and shelved it over goaltender Drew MacIntyre, tying the game 1-1.

Winger Christoph Bertschy gave Iowa its first lead of the season with a shorthanded goal at 10:42 of the second period. Bertschy took a pass from Brassart and squeezed a slap shot under goaltender Drew MacIntyre’s arm for a 2-1 lead. Brassart tallied his second goal and third point of the night at 14:35 of the period. The play was set up with a forced turnover by Ruslan Fedotenko. The Wild forward intercepted a pass in the high slot and fired a shot on net, leading to a tip-in goal for Brassart. The Wild scored twice on three shots in the period, grabbing a 3-1 lead.

The Wild built its lead to 4-1 at 3:31 of the third period when forward Jordan Schroeder notched his first goal of the season. Schroeder took a breakaway pass from Bertschy and slid the puck through MacIntyre’s five-hole. The goal was MacIntyre’s final play of the game. Goaltender Rasmus Tirronen entered the game as his replacement. Forward Derek Ryan scored on the power play for the Checkers at 10:53 of the third to make it a 4-2 game. Ryan hammered home a rebound off a shot from defenseman Trevor Carrick. Charlotte defenseman Brett Pesce scored off a slapshot, beating Smith over the glove at 16:28 to make it a 4-3 game. Carrick scored at 18:24 on the power play to tie the game at 4-4, sending the game to overtime.

There was no scoring through the five minute, 3-on-3 overtime period. Forwards TJ Hensick and Sergey Tolchinsky scored in the shootout to give Charlotte the extra point.