IOWA TAKES 4-3 OVERTIME WIN, SWEEPS GRAND RAPIDS
Mar 4, 2023
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Iowa Wild completed a two-game sweep of the Grand Rapids Griffins and took a 4-3 victory in overtime Saturday at Van Andel Arena. Mike O’Leary scored twice for the Wild, while Nic Petan provided the winning goal.
Taro Hirose put the Griffins on the board 1:15 into the game with a power-play goal that bounced off the Iowa defense and past Jesper Wallstedt (23 saves).
Mike O’Leary equalized for the Wild at 4:28 of the first period. After Patrick Curry won a battle in the right corner, O'Leary fired a shot off the post and in to beat John Lethemon (37 saves).
O’Leary found the score sheet again with 8:15 to go in the opening frame. Curry sprung Damien Giroux for an odd-man rush, and Giroux fired a shot toward the right pad of Lethemon. The rebound kicked to O’Leary, who deposited the puck into an empty net.
Iowa carried a 2-1 lead and 11-10 shot advantage into the first intermission.
Danny O’Regan scored another power-play goal for the Griffins at 1:28 of the second period. Grand Rapids took advantage of a 5-on-3 and O’Regan one-timed a pass from Matt Luff over the glove hand of Wallstedt from the top of the left circle.
Brandon Baddock put Iowa up 3-2 with 3:43 to play in the second. Tanner Kaspick found Baddock in front of the net, where Baddock spun a backhand shot on goal that snuck through Lethemon.
Iowa led 3-2 and held a 24-19 shot advantage through two periods.
Albert Johansson tied the game for the Griffins when a point shot by Jared McIsaac ricocheted directly to his tape at the side of the net 1:05 into the third period.
The two clubs were unable to break the deadlock in regulation and headed to overtime tied at 3-3.
Petan won the game for Iowa 3:17 into overtime. Marco Rossi entered the Grand Rapids zone and laid the puck off for Dakota Mermis, who in turn dropped a pass off for a curling Petan. Petan stepped between the circles and wired a wrister past Lethemon for his team-leading seventh game-winning goal of the season.
Iowa outshot Grand Rapids 41-26. The Wild were 0-for-4 on the power play while the Griffins went 2-for-3 with the man advantage.
Iowa travels to Milwaukee to square off with the Admirals on Tuesday, Mar. 7 at 7 p.m.
Iowa Wild hockey is presented by MercyOne. 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. 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.
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