Wild Extend Point Streak in OT Loss to Rockford
ROCKFORD, IL – The Iowa Wild dropped their second straight overtime loss to the Rockford IceHogs on Saturday evening, but still came away with a point, extending their consecutive point streak to 14 straight games. Bobby Lynch scored the game-winner 4:44 into overtime to give Rockford the 3-2 victory. Nick Swaney and Sammy Walker scored for the Wild and Jesper Wallstedt made 40 saves.
Swaney gave his team the lead at 5:42, scoring his 12th goal of the season with Iowa on the power-play. Damien Giroux fed the puck back to the point to Dakota Mermis, who blasted a shot that Swaney redirected by Arvid Soderblom. It was the second straight night that Swaney opened the scoring.
Iowa held the one-goal lead through the first intermission, but Rockford tied the score at 8:26 of the second. The Wild were on the power-play, but Luke Philip was able to gain control of the puck inside the Iowa end, making a perfect cross ice feed to Jakub Galvas who buried a one-timer for a short-handed goal.
Iowa jumped back in front with 2:26 left in the second. Adam Beckman led a rush into the IceHogs end, leaving a drop pass for Marco Rossi. Rossi waited for Walker to reach the back post before making a perfect feed that Walker redirected by Soderblom to make it 2-1. It was the 21st goal of the season for Walker.
The Wild continued to hold onto the one-goal edge through the first 11 minutes of the third, but Brett Seney scored a power-play goal at 11:37 to tie the score at two. Adam Clendening took a wrist shot that Seney tipped by Wallstedt for his 18th goal of the year.
The game went to overtime where Lynch delivered the game-winner. Cole Guttman had the puck inside the Wild zone, waiting for Lynch to get into position before feeding him in the slot. Lynch blasted the game-winner by Wallstedt, giving Rockford the 3-2 victory.
Wallstedt saw his eight game winning streak come to an end, but kept the team’s point streak alive. He stopped 40 shots, setting a single game high. Soderblom made 33 saves for Rockford.
The Iowa Wild (27-22-9) will be off until Friday when they take on the Chicago Wolves (16-22-4). The puck drops at 7:00.
By Robert Pannier
