IOWA DEFEATED BY BAKERSFIELD 5-2
Jan 12, 2020-Wild snaps five-game point streak in the loss-
Iowa Wild (21-13-3-2; 47 pts.) was defeated by the Bakersfield Condors (15-15-4-1; 37 pts.) by a score of 5-2 Saturday night.
Bakersfield jumped out to a 1-0 lead as forward Josh Currie gave the Condors a 1-0 lead at 3:07 in the first period. While on a 5-on-3 man advantage, Currie received a pass from forward Tyler Benson, weaved into the slot and wristed a shot that beat goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen (22 saves) glove side for his 15th of the campaign.
At the end of the first period, Iowa trailed 1-0 while Bakersfield led in shots 7-5.
Iowa tied the contest at 1:21 in the second period as forward Kyle Rau scored his eighth goal of the season. Forward Luke Johnson took a shot from the slot and goaltender Shane Starrett (14 saves) made the glove save but gave up a rebound. The puck found Rau on the right side of the net and he slipped a shot between Starrett and the post to bring the score to 1-1.
At 8:22 in the middle frame, forward Dmitry Sokolov gave the Wild a 2-1 lead. Forward Brandon Duhaime cut below the goal line and kicked a pass to Sokolov at the top of the goal crease, where he knocked the puck past Starrett and into the net for his seventh of the season.
Heading into the third period, Iowa led 2-1 with Bakersfield owning a 13-12 shot advantage.
The Condors scored two goals in 40 seconds in the final frame to flip the team’s 2-1 deficit to a 3-2 lead. At 3:50 in the third period, defenseman Keegan Lowe ripped a slap shot that bounced off the end boards right to forward Markus Granlund at the left post, where he had an easy tap in to tie the game. Then 40 seconds later, forward Jake Kulevich beat Kahkonen with a wrister from the top of the left circle for his second of the season to take a 3-2 lead.
Bakersfield made it three straight goals for the home side as defenseman Logan Day netted his second of the season to push the Condors’ lead to 4-2. Lowe had the puck the blueline and sent a cross-ice pass to Day. He allowed the pass to bounce off the sideboards before one-timing a shot past Kahkonen blocker side for the tally.
Forward Colby Cave added an empty-net goal at 17:06 to cap off a four-goal third period for the Condors en route to the team’s 5-2 victory. Final shot totals were 27-16 for Bakersfield. Iowa went 0-for-5 on the power play and 4-for-5 on the penalty kill.
The Wild’s 16 shots in the game were the fewest in a contest this season. The contest also snapped a 10-game point streak for Gerry Mayhew, tied for the longest in franchise history, and a seven-game point streak for Sam Anas. With his goal, Rau has now recorded a point in nine of the Wild’s last 10 road contests.
Iowa will take the ice again against the Condors Tuesday night. Puck drop is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. CT.
The Iowa Wild 2019-20 regular season is presented by MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center and runs from October through April. For more information, please contact the Wild office by calling 515-564-8700 or by visiting www.iowawild.com.