PETAN’S NATURAL HAT TRICK NOT ENOUGH AS IOWA FALLS 7-4
Dec 20, 2023MILWAUKEE, Wis. – Nic Petan posted a natural hat trick against the Milwaukee Admirals on Wednesday night, but the Iowa Wild were unable to complete a late comeback attempt and fell 7-4.
The Admirals wasted little time in establishing a lead. Joakim Kemell netted the first two Milwaukee goals, the first of which came on a one-timer from the left circle at 3:46 of the first period. Kemell added his second goal at 7:44 when he slashed through the defense for a backhand finish.
Roland McKeown put Milwaukee up 3-0 with a shorthanded tally off a backdoor pass from Zach L’Heureux at 13:34.
Adam Wilsby added the fourth goal for the Admirals with 2:13 to play in the first with a point shot through a screen.
Milwaukee carried the 4-0 advantage into the first intermission. The Wild outshot the Admirals 20-13 in the opening period.
Anthony Angello took advantage of an Iowa turnover to score from the high slot 5:10 into the middle frame. Mark Jankowski finished the rebound of a Jake Livingstone shot at 8:25 to chase Jesper Wallstedt (16 saves).
Petan finally got Iowa on the board with two seconds to play in the second. With the Wild on the power play, Sammy Walker sent the puck down to Steven Fogarty for a close-range opportunity and Petan jammed the rebound under the pad of Troy Grosenick (36 saves).
Milwaukee led 6-1 after two periods while the Wild maintained a 32-22 shot advantage.
Petan and the Wild converted on another power play just 1:06 into the third period when Petan walked into the left circle and snapped a wrist shot over the glove of Grosenick from the faceoff dot. Andy Welinski and Fogarty picked up assists on the goal.
Petan completed the hat trick at 10:03 of the third. After Jake Lucchini found a streaking Walker on the rush, Walker dropped a pass back into the slot for Petan. Petan kicked the puck to his stick and beat Grosenick on the blocker side.
Spencer Stastney stymied the Iowa comeback attempt with a shot from long range past Zane McIntyre (six saves) at 15:29.
Joël Teasdale capped the scoring with 3:39 remaining when he finished off a centering feed from Petan.
Iowa outshot Milwaukee 40-29. The Wild were 2-for-6 with the man advantage while the Admirals went 1-for-3 on the power play.
Iowa returns to Wells Fargo Arena to face the Manitoba Moose on Friday, Dec. 22 at 7 p.m.
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