GAME PREVIEW: IOWA WILD VS. HERSHEY BEARS

GAME PREVIEW: IOWA WILD VS. HERSHEY BEARS

Apr 5, 2024

Iowa Wild (24-34-4-2; 54 pts.) vs. Hershey Bears (48-12-0-5; 101 pts.) 

The Iowa Wild face the Hershey Bears at Wells Fargo Arena on Friday at 7 p.m. 

ALL-TIME SERIES 

All-Time Iowa Wild Record: 0-2-0-0 (0-0-0-0 at Wells Fargo Arena, 0-2-0-0 at Hershey) 

Last Time: Hershey took a 2-1 win over Iowa on Nov. 26 at Giant Center... Ethen Frank and Alex Limoges scored for the Bears in the first period... Jake Lucchini scored Iowa’s only goal in the second period... Zane McIntyre stopped 18-of-20 shots... Clay Stevenson turned aside 26-of-27 shots 

2022-23: Iowa finished 34-27-6-5 and made the Calder Cup Playoffs for the second time in franchise history... Hershey recorded a record of 44-19-5-4... The Bears beat the Coachella Valley Firebirds in seven games to win the Calder Cup for the 12th time in team history 

TEAM NOTES 

FIRST TIME VISITORS: Friday marks Hershey’s first ever visit to Wells Fargo Arena... Iowa last hosted a team outside of the Central and Pacific Divisions in 2014-15 (Adirondack) 

STANDINGS CHECK: Iowa enters Friday’s game trailing Manitoba for the fifth and final Central Division playoff spot by seven points... The Wild have a game in hand over the Moose and visit Manitoba next weekend 

ONE-GOAL GAMES: Each of Iowa’s last three games and five of the last six have been decided by a single goal... The Wild had won four consecutive one-goal games prior to Saturday’s 2-1 loss at Texas.... Iowa is 12-5-4-2 in one-goal games this season 

MARCH MADNESS: Iowa finished March with its first monthly winning record of the 2023-24 season (5-4-0-1) 

FRESH FACE 

  • Minnesota assigned 2022 first round pick (#19 overall) Liam Öhgren to Iowa on Tuesday 

  • Öhgren captained Team Sweden to a silver medal at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championships 

  • The Stockholm, Sweden native finished with most goals (33) and best plus/minus (+41) in J20 Nationell with Djurgårdens IF J20 in 2021-22 

HOT HANDS 

  • Sammy Walker is riding a three-game point streak (2-2=4) 

  • Daemon Hunt has points in four consecutive games (1-4=5) 

  • Caedan Bankier had a three-game point streak (2-2=4) snapped on Saturday 

IN THE CREASE 

  • Goaltender Jesper Wallstedt has allowed 20 goals over his last 10 starts 

  • Wallstedt is 6-3-1 across those 10 contests with a 0.935 SAV% 

  • Hershey goaltender Clay Stevenson enters Friday’s game with a 1.97 GAA and a 0.925 SAV% 

  • The Bears have allowed a league-best 2.06 goals against per game 

For more information on Iowa Wild hockey, please visit www.iowawild.com. Fans can purchase single-game tickets through the team’s website at www.iowawild.com. Group tickets (10 or more), suites, Wild 365 memberships or premium tickets can be purchased by contacting the Iowa Wild Ticket Department at 515-564-8700 or tickets@iowawild.com. Season tickets for 2023-24 are on sale now. Fans can purchase season tickets for the upcoming season at https://www.iowawild.com/wild-365

Visit http://www.iowawild.com/pressbox for the latest news and information from the team including press releases, game notes, multimedia content, and daily statistics.   

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