Moose Rally to Down Wild in Shootout, 3-2
DES MOINES, IA – The Iowa Wild jumped out to a 2-0 lead on Sunday afternoon only to watch the Manitoba Moose rally to force overtime. It would take a shootout to close it out however, as the Moose defeated the Wild, 3-2. Dereck Baribeau was solid in his second start since returning to the Wild, stopping 26 shots. Arvid Holm stopped 24 shots for the Moose.
Iowa got off to a great start, scoring two goals in the first period. Nate Sucese gave the Wild the lead 3:01 into the contest. Sucese blocked a shot from the point, then gained control of the puck, heading the other direction on a breakaway. He moved in, lifting a wrist shot past Holm for his fourth goal of the year.
With just over three minutes left in the first, Calen Addison extended the lead to two. Marco Rossi had the puck near the left faceoff circle. He fed it to Addison in the high slot, who blasted a slap shot past the Manitoba netminder for his fifth goal of the season.
The teams each put seven shots on net in the first, but it was Iowa who had capitalized on their attempts. In the second, the Wild clamped down on Manitoba even more, allowing five total shots, but the Moose cut their deficit in half when C.J. Suess scored with 32 seconds left in the frame. Jonathan Kovacevic took a shot that Baribeau saved, but Suess knocked in the rebound for his seventh tally of the year. That made it 2-1 heading to the second intermission.
The late goal gave the Moose a sudden boost of energy and they dominated much of the third period, outshooting the Wild, 13-7. Manitoba used that momentum to tie the score just after the 15-minute mark. Mikey Eyssimont had control of the puck along the goal line. He moved in, putting the puck past the Wild netminder to tie the score at two. It was the 12th goal of the year for Eyssimont.
The score remained tied through regulation, sending the contest to overtime. Both teams had chances in the extra session but Holm and Baribeau kept the game tied. The forced a shootout where Eyssimont struck again, delivering the only goal.
The loss was the third in a row for the Wild dropping them to 23-25-8, last in the Central Division. The Wild will look to snap their dry spell on Friday when they welcome the Rockford IceHogs. The puck drops at 7:00.
By Robert Pannier
