GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Iowa Wild opened a weekend set at Van Andel Arena with a narrow 3-2 loss to the Grand Rapids Griffins on Friday night. Nicolas Aubé-Kubel and Gerry Mayhew scored for Iowa while William Rousseau stopped 26 shots in his first AHL game of the season.
Justin Holl cleaned up a rebound and tapped a puck into an empty cage 8:24 into the game to put Grand Rapids ahead 1-0.
Eduards Tralmaks hammered a one-timer through Rousseau on the power play at 14:25 to double the advantage.
The Wild responded nine seconds later when Aubé-Kubel picked up a face-off win by Riley Heidt and streaked down the right wing before firing a shot under Carter Gylander (28 saves).
Grand Rapids outshot Iowa 15-5 in the opening frame.
Iowa tied the game on the man advantage 5:33 into the second period. After David Spacek broke up a Grand Rapids rush, Ben Gleason carried the puck the length of the ice and found Mayhew on the backdoor.
John Leonard gave the Griffins the lead for good with a backhand past the blocker of Rousseau at 8:05.
Grand Rapids outshot Iowa 22-18 through two periods.
The Wild recorded 12 shots in the final 20 minutes but could not solve Gylander for a third time.
Iowa outshot Grand Rapids 30-29. The Wild finished 1-for-6 with the man advantage while the Griffins went 1-for-1 on the power play.
Iowa and Grand Rapids face off at Van Andel Arena on Sunday, Nov. 30 at 3 p.m.
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