Wild Rally to Force Overtime, Keep Point Streak Alive

DES MOINES, IA – The Iowa Wild found themselves trailing by two in their first ever meeting with the Coachella Valley Firebirds on Thursday, but were able to rally to tie the score behind goals by Nic Petan and Adam Beckman to force overtime. There, the Firebirds earned the victory when Tye Kartye scored 2:25 into the extra session, but Iowa earned a point, earning points in nine straight games (7-0-2).
Coachella Valley came out and dominated through the first 20 minutes, outshooting the Wild 17-5. However, Zane McIntyre was spectacular, kicking aside all 17 shots.
The Firebirds continued the pressure early in the second and came away with a pair of power-play goals seven minutes into the frame. The first came at 2:56 when Brogan Rafferty passed the puck to Andrew Poturalski at the right face-off circle. He blasted a slapshot by McIntyre for his 11th goal of the year.
Ed 6:40, Coachella Valley extended the lead to two. Rafferty earned his second assist of the night when he fired a shot that Ville Petman tipped over the shoulder of McIntyre for his eighth tally of the season.
The Wild were being dominated in their own building, but cut the deficit in half when Petan scored his ninth goal of the season at the 14:10 mark. Dakota Mermis passed the puck to Nick Swaney in the slot, who found Petan streaking toward the goal. He dished the puck toward his streaking forward who tapped of the puck past Joey Daccord for his ninth goal of the season.
The Firebirds held the lead through the first 12 minutes of the third period, but Iowa tied the score when Beckman netted his 13th goal of the year at the 12:18 mark. Marco Rossi made a nice play, spinning around to find Beckman moving toward the net. He made a perfect pass toward the front, where Beckman knocked home a shot to tie the score at two.
That sent the game to overtime, where Kartye delivered the game-winner. Jesper Froden fed the puck to Kartye, who found an opening before beating McIntyre with a wrist shot for his eighth goal of the season.
Despite taking the loss, McIntyre was sensational in the contest, stopping 30 shots. Rossi now has points in four straight games.
These two teams will battle again on Saturday. The puck drops at 6:00.
by Robert Pannier