WALLSTEDT SCORES, EARNS FIRST AHL WIN AS IOWA BEATS CHICAGO 5-2
Nov 12, 2022
ROSEMONT, Ill. – Iowa Wild goaltender Jesper Wallstedt celebrated his 20th birthday two days early by stopping 37-of-39 Chicago Wolves shots and scoring a goal in his first American Hockey League victory. Iowa handed Chicago a 5-2 defeat in their first win at Allstate Arena since Feb. 25, 2020.
It only took 32 seconds for Iowa to take the 1-0 lead. Andrej Šustr held the puck at the blue line for Nick Swaney, whose seeing-eye wrister from the top of the right circle found its way just inside the post.
Logan Lambdin tied the game at 1-1 10:02 into the first period. Anttoni Honka found Lambdin trailing on the rush, and Lambdin banked a shot off the post and in for his first AHL goal.
Kevin Conley scored his first AHL goal 20 seconds later to put the Wild back on top. After chipping the puck by the Chicago defense in the neutral zone, Conley streaked in on a 2-on-1 and beat Zachary Sawchenko (12 saves) over the blocker. Dakota Mermis and Mike O’Leary earned assists on the play.
Iowa trailed 15-6 in shots heading into the first intermission but took a 2-1 lead into the break.
The Wild weathered several minutes of Wolves chances before opening up a 3-1 lead in the second period. Steven Fogarty forced a turnover behind the Chicago net and found Nic Petan alone in front, who scored his second goal in as many nights at 11:37 of the middle frame.
Wallstedt turned aside all 11 shots he faced in the second period and Iowa maintained their 3-1 lead after 40 minutes despite Chicago holding a 26-11 shot advantage.
The Wild capitalized on a power play to open the third period. After Fogarty found Petan at the point, Petan took a shot that kicked off of bodies in front and dribbled to the edge of the crease. Sammy Walker poked the loose puck past Sawchenko at 1:56 of the third period to make the score 4-1 and notch his team-leading sixth goal.
Griffin Mendel beat Wallstedt with 7:32 to play with a long wrister to make the score 4-2, but the Wild netminder turned aside the final seven shots he faced and finished the contest with an answer of his own. With 33 seconds remaining and the Wild shorthanded, Wallstedt gloved a puck down and launched a shot the length of the ice into the empty net, capping the scoring and handing Iowa a 5-2 win.
Iowa finished with 17 shots to Chicago’s 39. The Wild went 1-for-2 on the man advantage and killed off all five Wolves power plays.
The Wild host the Milwaukee Admirals Friday, Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. on Veterans Appreciation Night. The first 1,500 fans will receive a camo hat presented by CDS Global and LAZER 103.3. The team will also wear specialty camo jerseys and host a jersey auction benefitting the Iowa Chapter of the ALS Association.
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.
Visit http://www.iowawild.com/pressbox for the latest news and information from the team including press releases, game notes, multimedia content, and daily statistics.