DES MOINES, IA – Matt Boldy had been activated by the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday and sent back to the Iowa Wild. He made the most of his return, scoring two goals and adding an assist as the Wild defeated the Tucson Roadrunners, 5-0. Andrew Hammond stopped 17 shots for his second straight shutout and third of the season. Kyle Rau also scored two goals, moving him into third place on the team’s all-time goals list.

Iowa took the lead 3:35 into the contest. Boldy battled for the puck in the corner and was able to come away with it, dishing it to Rau at the right faceoff circle. He blasted a one-timer by Tucson netminder Ivan Prosvetov for his fourth goal of the season.

At 16:20, the lead became two thanks to Rau’s second goal of the game. Marco Rossi fed the puck through the neutral zone to Rau just before he crossed into the Roadrunners end. Rau moved to just above left faceoff circle before blasting a shot that beat Prosvetov to the glove side to make it 2-0 Wild.

The Wild held the two-goal lead through the first intermission, but extended it with two goals scored within the first six minutes of the second frame. Dominic Turgeon made the lead three at 2:32. Adam Beckman made a great backhand, no look pass into the slot to Turgeon, who fired a wrist shot up high and in for his second goal of the year.

Just after the six-minute mark, Boldy scored his first goal of the night. With Iowa on the power-play, Joe Hicketts fed the puck to Boldy at the right faceoff circle, who blasted a slapshot by Prosvetov for his first goal of the year. Hicketts earned his seventh assist of the season on the play, extending his point streak to four games and giving him points in nine of his 11 games.

The Wild held a four-goal advantage heading to the second intermission. They had limited Tucson to just 11 shots through the first two frames while the Wild had put 24 shots on Prosvetov. The domination continued into the third, as Iowa outshot Tucson 10-6, helping them to take a 5-0 lead.

At 7:48, Joseph Cramarossa had the puck along the boards near the right faceoff circle. He waited for Boldy to get past the defenseman, streaking toward the net. Cramarossa hit Boldy with a perfect feed who fired a shot that beat Prosvetov to the blocker side to make it 5-0. That would be final.

Hammonds had a light night, seeing just 17 shots, but he stopped all of them to preserve the shutout. Rossi finished with three assists. Ten different players for Iowa had at least one point in the game.

The Wild are off on Saturday, but they take to the ice again against Tucson on Sunday. The puck drops at 1:00.

Gamesheet

By Robert Pannier