WILD DROP NEW YEAR’S EVE TILT TO COLORADO IN A SHOOTOUT, 3-2
Dec 31, 2021
DES MOINES, Iowa – Iowa Wild (11-10-2-2; 26 pts.) were defeated by the Colorado Eagles (12-11-3-2; 29 pts.) in a shootout on Friday, Dec. 31 at Wells Fargo Arena by a score of 3-2. Iowa forward Marco Rossi tied the game at two goals apiece in the third period and forced overtime for the second consecutive game.
At 11:18 of the first period, Colorado forward Dylan Sikura put a wrist shot past Wild goaltender Andrew Hammond (27 saves) on a 3-on-1 chance to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead.
Just over two minutes after Sikura’s goal, Wild forward Joseph Cramarossa ripped home a wrist shot from the top of the left circle past Eagles goaltender Hunter Miska (23 saves) to tie the game 1-1 at 13:24 of the first period. Iowa forward Nick Swaney and Wild defenseman Riese Zmolek recorded assists on the goal. Zmolek’s assist was the first point of his AHL career.
At the conclusion of the first period, the Eagles and the Wild were deadlocked at one goal apiece and tied 10-10 in shots.
Colorado forward Charle-Edouard D’Astous scored on a second-chance backhand to the right of Hammond at 3:08 of the second period to give the Eagles a 2-1 lead.
After the second period, Colorado led Iowa 2-1 on the scoreboard and 22-19 in shots.
After Iowa forward Matt Boldy created a turnover in front of the Colorado net, Wild forward Adam Beckman tapped the puck to Rossi at the far post and Rossi scored to tie the game 2-2 at 3:38 of the third period.
Both teams were knotted up at two goals each at the end of regulation, sending the game to overtime. At the end of the third period, the Eagles led the Wild 28-24 in shots
In overtime, both teams recorded one shot but neither team could find the back of the net, forcing a shootout. Shots at the end of overtime were 29-25 in favor of Colorado.
After misses from Cramarossa, Boldy and Rossi and Colorado forwards Mikhail Maltsev and Martin Kaut in the shootout, Eagles forward Kiefer Sherwood beat Hammond on his forehand to give Colorado a 3-2 victory.
Iowa held Colorado to an 0-for-4 power play performance for the second time in as many games. The Wild went 0-for-2 on the power play in the game.
Next on the schedule for the Wild, a trip to Manitoba to play the Moose on Sunday, Jan. 2 at 2 p.m. CT.
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.
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