Iowa power play drives Wild over Ads

DES MOINES, Iowa – Iowa Wild (7-3-1-0; 15 pts.) defeated the Milwaukee Admirals (3-7-1-0; 7 pts.) by a score of 4-3. Iowa forward Kyle Rau scored his 66th goal as a member of the Iowa Wild in the win, placing him in a tie for the third most goals in franchise history.

Iowa and Milwaukee played a scoreless first period as the Wild outshot the Admirals 11-6.

Just 26-seconds into the second period, Rau connected with Iowa Wild forward Connor Dewar on a shorthanded two-on-one rush and Dewar went forehand to backhand to beat Admirals goaltender Connor Ingram (26 saves). The tally gave Iowa a 1-0 lead and was Dewar’s second shorthanded goal of the season.

With Iowa up two men on the power play, Wild forward Adam Beckman collected a backhand pass from Iowa defenseman Calen Addison in the offensive zone, stepped to the top of the left circle and beat Ingram to give the Wild a 2-0 lead. Wild forward Will Bitten nabbed the secondary assist on the power play strike at 6:26 of the second stanza.

At 7:59 of the second period and the Wild on a four-on-three power play, Iowa defenseman Joe Hicketts recovered a rebound off a point shot from Dewar and found the back of the net for his third goal in as many games. Hicketts’ goal extended the Iowa lead to 3-0 with a second assist credited to Beckman.

Milwaukee center Mitch McLain deflected a point shot past Wild goaltender Dereck Baribeau (35 saves) at 17:20 of the second period. The Milwaukee power play goal made the score 3-1 in favor of the Wild.

At the end of the second period, the Wild led 3-1 and shots between the two teams were knotted up 23-23, as Milwaukee outshot Iowa 17-12 in the second frame.

With the Admirals on the power play again, McLain tapped in a one-timer at the left post of Baribeau to pull Milwaukee within one at 11:08 of the third period. After McLain’s second goal of the night, the Wild held a 3-2 lead.

Exactly two minutes later at 13:08 of the third period, Rau poked in a rebound off an Addison point blast to give the Wild a 4-2 lead. Rau’s goal placed him in a tie for third all-time in goals scored in Iowa Wild franchise history with former forward Zack Mitchell.

At 14:51 of the third period, Milwaukee forward Matt Luff beat Baribeau from the left circle in the Iowa defensive zone to make the score 4-3 Wild.

The Admirals would eventually pull Ingram for the extra attacker, but they were unable to tie the game and the Wild took the second game of the weekend set, 4-3.

Milwaukee led 15-7 in third period shots and outshot the Wild 38-30 in total. Both Iowa and Milwaukee converted on two of their four power play opportunities and the Wild also recorded a shorthanded goal on the night.