IOWA RALLIES, FALLS TO GRAND RAPIDS IN OVERTIME 5-4
Nov 4, 2022
DES MOINES, Iowa – The Iowa Wild mounted a furious comeback to take the lead over Grand Rapids Friday night, but the visitors scored a late game-tying goal and Jonatan Berggren converted on a penalty shot in overtime as the Griffins took a 5-4 victory. Ty Ronning had a goal and assist for the Wild, while Sammy Walker tallied his fifth goal of the season to tie him for the American Hockey League lead in rookie scoring.
Grand Rapids got on the board with a power play goal 10:04 into the opening period. Jared McIsaac wristed a shot on goal from the point and the rebound kicked off the pads of Iowa goaltender Jesper Wallstedt (35 saves) onto the stick of Joel L’Esperance. L’Esperance poked the puck through the pads of Wallstedt to make the score 1-0 in favor of the Griffins.
Walker continued his hot streak with a shorthanded tally four minutes later. After Grand Rapids failed to contain the puck at the blue line, Walker went streaking in on Victor Brattstrom (22 saves). Walker pulled the puck to his backhand and put it over the pad of the Griffins goaltender, evening the score at 1-1.
The Griffins regained the lead under two minutes later. Pontus Andreasson fired a pass through the circles to Donovan Sebrango, who snapped a shot over the blocker of Wallstedt at 16:00 of the first period.
Grand Rapids added another goal with 1:37 to play in the opening frame. After receiving a feed from Andreasson in front of Wallstedt, Givani Smith swerved right and beat the Wild netminder along the ice to give the Griffins a 3-1 lead.
After one period, the Griffins led the Wild 3-1 and 20-11 in shots.
Iowa wasted no time in getting on the board in the second period. A bouncing puck found its way to Mitchell Chaffee, who recorded his second goal in as many nights with a backhand chip under the blocker of Brattstrom. Adam Beckman and Andrej Šustr notched assists on the goal, which came at 1:15 of the second.
Iowa equalized the score at 3-3 thanks to a tenacious forechecking effort. Ronning recovered a turnover below the goal line and banked the puck up the wall to Daemon Hunt. Tanner Kaspick deflected Hunt’s shot past Brattstrom to record his first goal with the Wild at 10:28.
Iowa immediately took advantage of their next power play opportunity. After Nick Swaney kept the puck in for Joseph Cramarossa at the blue line, Cramarossa sashayed into the slot and appeared poised to fire a shot in on goal. Cramarossa instead tucked a crafty pass through the slot to Ronning, who pitchforked the puck in on his backhand at 11:47 of the second period to hand Iowa a 4-3 lead.
The Wild took a 4-3 lead into the second intermission but trailed in shots 29-22.
Iowa fought to maintain the lead, but Taro Hirose tied the game at 4-4 with 4:47 to play. He scored with a seeing eye shot that caught the arm of Dakota Mermis and snuck through Wallstedt.
The teams headed to overtime with the score knotted at 4-4. The Griffins outshot the Wild 10-8 in the third period.
At 1:16 of overtime, the Griffins were awarded a penalty shot. Berggren scored on his forehand to secure the win and extra point for Grand Rapids.
Grand Rapids had two shots in overtime and outshot Iowa overall 40-26. The Wild went 1-for-7 on the power play, while the Griffins went 2-for-5 with the man advantage.
Iowa will travel to the BMO Harris Bank Center on Sunday, Nov. 6 to play the Rockford IceHogs at 4:00 p.m.
Iowa Wild hockey is presented by MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center. For more information, 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. The 2022-23 season marks the 10th anniversary of Iowa Wild hockey. Fans can purchase season tickets for the 10th anniversary season at https://www.iowawild.com/wild-365.
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