IOWA FALLS IN PRESEASON OPENER TO ROCKFORD 3-0 AT XTREAM ARENA
Oct 7, 2021
CORALVILLE, Iowa - Iowa Wild (0-1-0-0) fell 3-0 Thursday night at the hands of the Rockford IceHogs (1-0-0-0) to open the 2021 AHL Preseason schedule. The contest was played at Xtream Arena, home of Iowa’s new ECHL affiliate the Iowa Heartlanders, and was closed to the public. Wild goaltender, Dereck Baribeau kicked aside all 20 shots he saw in relief for goaltending counterpart, Hunter Jones.
Rockford grabbed a first period lead at 17:08 when forward Kale Howarth beat Jones (8 saves) under his blocker side, making it 1-0 IceHogs.
Iowa trailed after one period of play, 1-0 and got outshot 11-9 by Rockford in the stanza.
The IceHogs jumped out to a 2-0 lead at 2:36 of the second frame after forward Andrei Altybarmakian wristed a shot off the left post and in, beating Jones past his blocker.
Later in the second period, forward Michael Teply tucked in a power play goal for Rockford, bringing the margin to 3-0 IceHogs.
Through 40-minutes of action, Iowa chased Rockford 3-0 on the scoreboard and were outshot 13-5 in the period. In total, Rockford carried the lead in shots 24 to 14.
After replacing Jones midway through the second period, Baribeau (20 saves) completed his night by stopping seven third period shots from Rockford, as the game came to an end 3-0 in favor of the IceHogs.
The Wild outshot the IceHogs 9-7 in the third period but ended the evening with 23 shots compared to Rockford’s 31. Iowa’s power play went 0-2 on the game, while Rockford struck once on their three power play opportunities.
Iowa and Rockford clash again on Friday night for the second and final preseason game of the Wild’s preseason schedule. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. at Xtream Arena with fans in attendance for Friday night’s contest.
Iowa Wild hockey is presented by MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center. For more information, please visit www.iowawild.com. The Iowa Wild home opener at Wells Fargo Arena is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 22 at 7 p.m. against the Rockford IceHogs. 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. (Photo courtesy of Iowa Heartlanders)
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