GAME PREVIEW - IOWA WILD AT OKLAHOMA CITY BARONS 4.18.15
Apr 18, 2015Iowa Wild (23-48-2-2, 50 points) at Oklahoma City Barons (40-27-5-3, 88 points)
Iowa closes out the regular season schedule with a road game in Oklahoma City on Saturday. The Wild plays its second straight at the Cox Convention Center after playing there on Friday and falling 3-0 to the Barons. The. Iowa Wild plays Oklahoma City for the eighth and final time this season. The Barons lead the season series with a 5-2-0-0 mark, including a 3-0-0-0 record at home. The Barons have outscored the Wild 24-20. The Barons are 8-3-0-0 all-time against Iowa, including a 5-0-0-0 mark at home. Iowa is 3-6-1-1 versus OKC all time, going 0-3-1-1 at the Cox Convention Center.
Iowa is 13-22-1-1 on the road this season, having been outscored 118-84 by the home teams. The Wild is coming off a 3-0 loss at OKC on Friday. The Wild is 2-7-1-0 over the last 10 games, while the Barons are 3-7-0-0. Oklahoma City is 20-12-3-2 at home, having been outscored the visitors 109-103. The team is coming off a 3-0 win at home over Iowa on Friday. Oklahoma City is 4-10-2-0 over the last 16 games. The Barons have already clinched a berth in the Calder Cup playoffs.
Upcoming Games:
Team Date Time Radio / TV
at Oklahoma City 4/18 7:00 PM KXNO/ iHeartRadio
END OF REGULAR SEASON
Transactions:
4.10.15 – Add – D Dylan Labbe (signed ATO)
4.15.15 – Delete – D Collin Bowman (released PTO)
4.15.15 – Delete – D Brad Richard (released PTO)
4.15.15 – Re-Signed – D Joel Chouinard (re-signed PTO)
Last Time Out
The Iowa Wild were defeated by the Oklahoma City Barons 3-0 on Friday night at the Cox Convention Center. Just one week after falling 4-0 in Des Moines to the Iowa Wild, the Barons, behind the play of goaltender Laurent Brossoit, returned the favor by handing the Wild a shutout defeat. The Barons goalie improved to 24-22-4 and made 27 saves with his fourth shutout of the year. Forward Andrew Miller scored once and added an assist to lead Oklahoma City. Wild goalie John Curry stopped 30 of 33 shots in the defeat. Iowa suffered its 11th shutout of the year in the road loss.
Iowa Wild
Through 75 games this season, forward Tyler Graovac is the team’s leading scorer with 46 points. He leads the team in goals with 21 tallies and is first in points after playing in 72 games played. Michael Keranen is second on the team in scoring with 37 points and is first with 27 assists in 69 games. Rookie Zack Mitchell is second among active skaters with 17 goals and is tied for third with 35 points in 75 games played. Defenseman Jon Blum is the leader in points from the blueline. He has 11 goals and is tied for third on the team with 35 points in 65 games played. Right wing Marc Hagel is fifth among active skaters with a career-high 33 points in 66 games played. Veteran center Brett Sutter is also among the team leaders with 28 points in 70 games played.
Goalies Johan Gustafsson and John Curry man the Iowa Wild crease. John Curry is 13-23-2 with a 2.66 GAA and a .917 SV%. Gustafsson is 8-21-0 with a 3.46 GAA and a .893 SV %.
Iowa’s power play is ranked 25TH at 14.2%, while the penalty kill sits 30th at 76.7%.
Notables –
· Iowa has been outscored by the opposition 20-19 in April, including two shutouts over the seven games.
· Defenseman Dylan Labbe made his season debut on Tuesday against Toronto.
· OKC is ninth in the AHL averaging 2.93 goals per game and Iowa is 28th at 2.27.
· OKC is 15th defensively allowing 2.80 goals per game and Iowa is 27th at 3.21.
Oklahoma City Barons
In the first 75 games this season, forwards Andrew Miller, Matt Ford and Jason Williams are among the team leaders in points. Miller has 27 goals and 33 assists for 60 points in 62 games played. Miller is first in goals and tied is second in helpers. Matt Ford is second in points with 52 in 68 games played. He leads the team with 34 assists. Williams is second in goals (21) and fourth in assists. He is fourth on the team in point with 50. Defenseman Brad Hunt is third on the team with 51 points in 61 games played. He ranks second in the AHL in scoring by a defenseman. Forward CJ Stretch is also among the team leaders in points with 35 in 66 games played. Ryan Hamilton recently returned from Edmonton. He has 36 points in 42 games with OKC this year. Former Iowa forward Brad Winchester meets his former team after playing for the Wild last season. He played in 23 games for Iowa in 2013-14, scoring three goals and adding five assists for eight points. He has played in 26 AHL games this season, scoring five goals and totaling 10 points.
The Barons carry goalies Richard Bachman, Tyler Bunz and Laurent Brossoit to man the crease for OKC. Recently returned from Edmonton, Laurent Brossoit (24-22-4), had a 2.57 GAA and a .918 SV%. Richard Bachman is 14-5-3 with a 2.38 GAA and .918 SV %. Goalie Tyler Bunz (0-0-0) has a 5.00 GAA and a .839 SV%.
Oklahoma City’s power play is ranked ninth at 17.9%, while the penalty kill seventh at 86.7%.