DES MOINES, Iowa – Iowa Wild (21-21-3-3; 48 pts.) defeated the Rockford IceHogs (21-19-3-1; 46 pts.) by a score of 4-3 in front of 8,314 fans at Wells Fargo Arena on Friday, Feb. 25. Wild forward Kyle Rau recorded a goal and two assists on the night to take sole possession of second place all-time in Iowa Wild franchise history in both points and assists.
Wild forward Joseph Cramarossa beat IceHogs goaltender Arvid Soderblom (25 saves) with a spinning wrist shot from the left circle at 3:07 of the first period to give Iowa a 1-0 lead. Wild forward Mitchell Chaffee recorded the lone assist on the goal.
After a shot by Rau was stopped by Soderblom, Chaffee collected the rebound and pushed the puck to Wild forward Marco Rossi. Rossi shoveled a backhand shot into the Rockford net to extend Iowa’s lead to 2-0. His goal came at 14:36 of the first period and assists were credited to Chaffee and Rau.
Iowa held a 2-0 lead over Rockford as both teams headed into the first intermission. The Wild outshot the IceHogs 10-9 in the first stanza.
Wild forward Victor Rask deflected in a one-time shot off the stick of Wild forward Nick Swaney 59-seconds into the second period to give Iowa a 3-0 lead. Swaney and Rau recorded assists on what was Rask’s first goal as a member of the Iowa Wild.
As a Rockford shot trickled toward the goal line behind Wild goaltender Zane McIntyre (22 saves), IceHogs forward Michal Teply pushed the puck in to make the score 3-1 in favor of the Wild at 11:42 of the second period.
Iowa carried a 3-1 lead into the second intermission. Shots in the second period were 10-7 in favor of the Wild and Iowa led 20-16 in shots through two periods.
Rockford forward Josiah Slavin beat McIntyre with a one-timer from the bottom of the left circle at 4:18 of the third period to make the score 3-2 in favor of Iowa.
As Soderblom headed to the Rockford bench for the extra attacker, Rau fired a shot from the Wild zone into the open net to give the Wild a 4-2 lead at 17:32 of the third period. Rask and Wild defenseman Turner Ottenbreit were credited with assists on Rau’s goal.
With IceHogs forward DJ Busdeker serving a penalty for high-sticking, Slavin beat McIntyre from the top of the right circle to make the score 4-3 in favor of Iowa at 18:05 of the third period.
The IceHogs pulled Soderblom for the extra attacker at 18:46 of the third period. However, Rockford could not beat McIntyre to tie the game and the Wild prevailed by a score of 4-3. Both teams recorded nine shots in the third period and Iowa outshot Rockford 29-25 in the game.
Iowa was 0-for-3 and Rockford was 0-for-2 on the power play on the night.
Next for Iowa, a road matchup with the Grand Rapids Griffins on Mar. 4 at 6:00 p.m. CT.