IOWA DROPS 4-1 CONTEST TO CHICAGO
Mar 9, 2019-Wild forward Cal O’Reilly records 500th professional assist Saturday-
ROSEMONT, ILL. – Iowa Wild (31-18-7-5; 74 pts.) ended its season-long six-game road trip with a 4-1 loss to the Chicago Wolves (35-18-5-2; 77 pts.) Saturday evening.
The Wolves took a 1-0 lead at 11:41 in the first period with the team’s 39th first goal, which leads the AHL. Forward Gage Quinney won a faceoff back and forward Brooks Macek shuttled the puck to defenseman Dylan Coghlan at the right point. He wristed a puck that beat goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen (29 saves) for his 11th of the season.
At 16:14 in the opening frame, Macek added a goal to his assist to give the Wolves a 2-0 lead. Defenseman Zach Whitecloud took a shot from the blueline that Macek deflected through Kahkonen’s five-hole for his 25th of the season. Quinney also earned an assist on the play.
Through 20 minutes of play, Chicago led 2-0, while both teams had 12 shots on goal.
Chicago scored the lone goal in the second period to give the home team a 3-0 lead. While on the power play, defenseman Nic Hague received a pass from defenseman Zac Leslie and one-timed a rocket over Kahkonen’s glove at 2:15 for his 11th of the season. Forward TJ Tynan registered the secondary helper on the tally.
At the end of the second period, Chicago led 3-0 but Iowa led in shots 23-22.
Tynan gave Chicago a 4-0 lead at 10:49 in the third period for his second point of the game. After receiving an outlet pass from defenseman Griffin Reinhart, Tynan skated into the offensive zone, beat a Wild defender and drove to the net. He went backhand-forehand before lofting the puck top shelf for his 11th of the year.
Wild forward Kyle Rau ended the shutout bid of Chicago goaltender Oscar Dansk (28 saves) with a power-play goal at 13:14 in the final frame. Forward Cal O’Reilly sent a pass to Rau on the far post, who tapped it in for the goal. With the tally, Rau became the first player in Wild history to record back-to-back 20-goal seasons and with his primary helper, O’Reilly logged his 500th professional assist. Defenseman Michael Kapla notched his 22nd assist of the year on the play.
When the final horn sounded, Chicago had the 4-1 victory and led in shots 33-29. Iowa went 1-for-5 on the power play and 2-for-3 on the penalty kill.
Iowa returns to Wells Fargo Arena Tuesday night to take on the San Antonio Rampage. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
The Iowa Wild 2018-19 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.