GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Michael Hutchinson (14 saves) outlasted Jesper Wallstedt (29 saves) in a goaltending duel at Van Andel Arena on Friday night as the Iowa Wild fell 2-0 to the Grand Rapids Griffins.
Luke Toporowski nearly put Iowa on the board immediately after the opening draw, but his bid from the left circle hit the post and stayed out.
Grand Rapids outshot Iowa 9-6 in the opening 20 minutes.
Caedan Bankier also found iron from the right circle on a Wild power play with just over six minutes left in the middle frame.
The two teams entered the second intermission scoreless with the Griffins leading the Wild 19-9 in shots.
Grand Rapids broke the scoreless draw with 3:20 to play when Joel L’Esperance backhanded a centering feed from Taro Hirose past the right pad of Wallstedt.
Dominik Shine provided the Griffins with an empty-net insurance goal at 19:23 of the third.
Grand Rapids outshot Iowa 31-14. The Wild were 0-for-2 with the man advantage while the Griffins went 1-for-3 on the power play.
The two teams meet again on Saturday, Mar. 16 at Van Andel Arena at 7 p.m.
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