Rossi Three Point Night Leads Wild to Victory
MILWAUKEE, WI – Marco Rossi scored a goal and added two assists to help lead the Iowa Wild to a 5-3 victory over the Milwaukee Admirals on Tuesday night. It was the third straight victory for Iowa, who pulled within one point of the Rockford IceHogs for fourth place in the Central Division. Daemon Hunt had two assists and Zane McIntyre stopped 27 shots to earn the victory.
Iowa scored the only goal the first period when Rossi delivered his 11th goal of the season 1:16 in the frame. Nic Petan led a rush into the Milwaukee end, taking a shot that Yaroslav Askarov saved. However, the rebound kicked right to Rossi, who blasted home a wrist shot to make it 1-0.
Milwaukee dominated much of the first frame, outshooting the Wild 13-5. Yet, they came away empty-handed. The Wild were able to limit the chances for the Admirals in the second, holding them to just five shots while Milwaukee only allowed Iowa eight shots of their own. However, the Wild scored on three of those shot, jumping out to a 4-0 lead.
The first came at 9:48 one Michael Milne netted his fourth goal of the season. Rossi made a pass to Milne as he was moving down the slot. He was able to stuff an attempt through Askarov to extend the lead to two.
Just before the 13-minute mark, Joe Hicketts gave Iowa a three goal advantage. Rossi took the puck away along the boards inside the Milwaukee zone. Then fed the puck back to the point to Hicketts, who blasted a shot that made it through traffic and by Askarov for his fifth goal of the season.
What 2:21 left in the frame Sammy Walker netted his 24th goal of the season. Simon Johansson passed the puck to Walker at the left face-off circle, who blasted a shot that Askarov saved, but Walker regained his own rebound, putting it past the Admirals goaltender to make it 4-0.
Iowa was in complete control of this game, but Milwaukee did not quit. The Admirals showed a lot of heart, scoring three goals in the first 18 minutes of the third period to pull within one. Egor Afanasyev got Milwaukee on the board at 1:09. With the Admirals on the power-play, Afanasyev completed a rush into the Wild zone by lifting a wrist shot that beat McIntyre to make it 4-1.
The lead still looked secure, but Milwaukee cut the deficit to two with 3:55 left in the contest. Tye Felhaber blasted a shot from the blueline that beat McIntyre over the shoulder for his first goal of the year. Cole Schneider then responded 2:10 later with his 21st goal of the season and suddenly the Admirals were back in this contest.
However, with 23 seconds left in the game, Steven Fogarty delivered an empty net tally to seal the victory. For Fogarty, it was his 13th goal of the year.
The Iowa Wild (26-22-9) will return home on Saturday to begin a two-game set against the Manitoba Moose (31-17-6). The puck drops at 6:00.
by Robert Pannier