Three-Point Afternoon by Beckman Powers Wild Past IceHogs

DES MOINES, IA – Adam Beckman scored two goals and added an assist to lead the Iowa Wild to a weekend sweep of the Rockford IceHogs, winning on Sunday, 4-1. Iowa scored two goals in the first and added to in the third and Jesper Wallstedt made 33 saves. The win was the fourth straight at home for the Wild.
Beckman got things started quickly, scoring 33 seconds into the contest. Sammy Walker made a great touch pass from behind the net out in front to Beckman who drilled in the puck for his ninth goal of the year. Marco Rossi earned an assist on the play, giving him points in six straight games.
The IceHogs tied the score a little over seven minutes later. Luke Philp found Alec Regula just inside the left face-off circle, who lifted a wrist shot past Wallstedt to tie the score at one. It was the fifth goal of the season for Regula.
The score looked like it was going to remain tied heading in the first intermission, but Steven Fogarty put the Wild on top with 45 seconds left in the frame. Nick Swaney made a great outlet pass from his own end, catching Fogarty as he was about to cross the blueline into the Rockford zone. Fogarty made a nice move around Alex Vlasic, tucking the puck between his legs before beating Jaxson Stauber for his 10th goal of the year.
Rockford had outshot Iowa 14-8 in the first period, but it was a wild second frame that saw the teams combine for 28 shots, with Iowa taking 15 of those attempts. However, both Stauber and Wallstedt were fantastic, setting aside each attempt. Wallstedt was particularly spectacular in the period, stopping to breakaway attempts, one by Buddy Robinson and the other by David Gust.
The third period was a much more methodical frame, but Iowa still added two more goals to secure the victory. The first came at 10:33 when Swaney netted his seventh goal of the year. Fogarty passed the puck to Ryan O’Rourke in the slot, who blasted a shot that beat Stauber, but hit off the post and out to Swaney. He put in the rebound to make it 3-1.
With a little under four minutes left in the contest and Rockford on the power-play, the team opted to pull their goaltender. However, it would be Beckman intercepting a pass attempt, then firing it the length of the ice for an empty net goal for his second tally of the contest.
Swaney and Fogarty each had a goal and an assist. Wallstedt won his third straight game, allowing one goal in each of those contests.
The Wild (15-14-4) head to the road to begin a three-game series against the Grand Rapids Griffins (13-17-2) starting on Wednesday. The puck drops at 6:00 Iowa time.
by Robert Pannier