Iowa Wild (2-1-1-0; 5 pts.) defeated the Rockford IceHogs (0-2-1-0; 1 pt.) in overtime Saturday night by a final score of 3-2 at Wells Fargo Arena. 4,118 Wild fans saw quite a hockey game, which included Iowa coming back from a 2-0 deficit, and an OT winner from forward Adam Beckman.
Rockford gained the edge early with a tally at 3:29 of the first period. Forward Brad Morrison sent the puck over the right shoulder of goaltender Dereck Baribeau (28 saves) to make it 1-0.
The second goal of the night came from Rockford at 13:37 of the opening stanza. Morrison doubled up his goal count tucking home a rebound off the pads of Baribeau. 2-0 IceHogs.
At the end of the first frame, Rockford led 2-0 and outshot Iowa 12-11.
Iowa opened the second period with jump and found an equalizer at 5:58 of the middle period. Gabriel Dumont’s one-time blast from the left circle beat goaltender Matt Tomkins (34 saves), which took the IceHogs’ lead down to 2-1. Forward Will Bitten and rookie defenseman Fedor Gordeev would collect the assists. Dumont’s team-leading fourth of the season tied him for the AHL lead in goals.
At 9:52 of the second frame, while skating four-on-four, forward Damien Giroux netted his first pro goal and tied the game at 2-2 after he slid home a rebound from a Beckman shot.
Through 40 minutes of action, the game was tied 2-2. Iowa outshot Rockford 18-8 during the second period and carried a 29-20 lead in total shots into the third frame.
The third period came and went without a goal. The contest went into overtime for the second consecutive game for Iowa.
3:12 into overtime, Bitten was hauled down on a breakaway presenting a penalty shot opportunity for the win in OT. He was denied by Tomkins on the shot, which kept the game headed towards a shootout. Bitten’s penalty shot in overtime was just the fourth in team history, and first since Feb. 9, 2020.
A shootout was not needed, as Beckman sent a bullet past Tomkins’ glove at 3:29 of OT, giving the Wild their first overtime win of the season, 3-2. Assists on the game-winner went to defenseman Josh Atkinson and forward Mason Shaw.
Both teams failed to score on the power play tonight. Iowa went 0-4 while Rockford finished 0-2 on the man-advantage. Final shots were 37-30 Iowa.
The Wild hit the road for two games next weekend taking on Central Division leaders, Chicago, at Tripahn Center Ice Arena in Hoffman Estates, IL.
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