DES MOINES, Iowa – Jesper Wallstedt stopped 29-of-30 shots to lead the Iowa Wild to a 3-1 victory over the Rockford IceHogs at Wells Fargo Arena on Monday evening.
Iowa jumped out to a 1-0 lead at 9:26 of the first period. Andy Welinski snapped a shot from the blue line and Caedan Bankier tucked the rebound around the right pad of Drew Commesso (30 saves).
The Wild outshot the IceHogs 15-11 in the first 20 minutes.
Iowa doubled the advantage 5:58 into the middle frame. After Nic Petan sprung Sammy Walker through the neutral zone, Walker found Will Butcher trailing with a cross-ice pass. Butcher stepped to the top of the right circle and rifled a wrister past Commesso.
Rockford pulled back within a goal with 3:41 remaining in the second on the power play when Mike Hardman punched his own rebound into the back of the net.
The Wild carried the 2-1 lead into the second intermission. Rockford outshot Iowa 25-22 through 40 minutes.
Joël Teasdale provided Iowa with a crucial insurance goal at 7:53 of the third. Teasdale won a battle along the end wall and whipped a shot on net from just above the goal line that snuck through Commesso.
Iowa outshot Rockford 33-30. The Wild were 0-for-4 with the man advantage while the IceHogs went 1-for-3 on the power play.
Iowa and Rockford meet again at Wells Fargo Arena on Wednesday, Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. If the Wild win, all fans in attendance receive a free ticket to the team’s next weekday game as a part of Winning Wednesday.
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