WILD BEAT FIREBIRDS 5-2, EXTEND POINT STREAK TO 10 GAMES
Jan 28, 2023
DES MOINES, Iowa – The Iowa Wild extended their point streak to 10 games and snapped Coachella Valley’s 14 game point streak with a 5-2 win over the Firebirds at Wells Fargo Arena Saturday night. Sammy Walker scored two goals for Iowa while Joe Hicketts and Andrej Šustr each had a goal and two assists.
Alexander True gave the Firebirds an early lead 23 seconds into the first period when he snapped a bouncing puck past Jesper Wallstedt (21 saves).
The Wild tied the game at 1-1 at 16:13 of the first period. After Nic Petan dropped off the puck to Šustr in the left circle, Šustr found Walker on the back door for a tap-in goal behind Joey Daccord (23 saves).
Hicketts gave Iowa the lead with 1:57 remaining in the first. Nick Swaney set Hicketts up above the circles for a slap shot over the shoulder of Daccord. Petan was also credited with a secondary assist on the play.
The Wild carried the 2-1 lead and 9-4 shot advantage into the first intermission.
Tye Kartye knotted the game up at 2-2 when he fired a shot between the pads of Wallstedt from the right circle at 12:07 of the second period.
Iowa regained the lead with back-to-back goals with less than two minutes remaining in the second period. With the Wild on the power play, Hicketts and Marco Rossi combined to set up Walker on the left post. Walker jammed the puck through the legs of Daccord at 18:22 for his second goal of the game.
Just 1:26 later, Šustr received a cross-ice feed from Hicketts before ripping a wrist shot from the right circle to give the Wild a 4-2 lead. Petan picked up his third assist of the game on the goal.
Iowa added nine shots for a two period total of 18 while Coachella Valley totaled 14 shots through 40 minutes.
The Wild extended the lead to 5-2 at 4:04 of the third period. Swaney skated into the attacking zone and found Adam Beckman for wrister over the glove of Daccord. Šustr tallied his second assist of the game on the play.
Iowa outshot Coachella Valley 28-23. The Wild went 1-for-6 on the power play while the Firebirds went 0-for-2 with the man advantage.
The Iowa Wild travel to H-E-B Center at Cedar Park to face the Texas Stars on Monday, Feb. 1 at 7:00 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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