In a weekend in which the Iowa Wild knew a team effort would be needed to defeat the Milwaukee Admirals, they got what they needed in a 4-1 win in front of an announced crowd of 5,052 at Wells Fargo Arena on Sunday. The win completed a weekend sweep of their Central Division rival. The Wild played a nearly flawless game in their own end, got goals from four different skaters and Samuel Hlavaj made 21 saves for his first win in an Iowa Wild uniform.

With the help of an early power play, Milwaukee had the first four shots on goal. Iowa had two odd man rushes afterwards but shots went wide. The first registered shot on goal for Iowa was nearly nine minutes into the game on a power play of their own. Iowa broke the deadlock as an alley-oop like pass from his own zone from Sammy Walker found Liam Ohgren in stride. Ohgren wristed a shot in the upper corner by Admiral goalie Matthew Murray ( 39 saves), his third goal of the weekend and eighth of the season with Walker picking up the only assist. It was a 14-7 Wild shot advantage in the first period with both teams going 0-1 on the power play.

After an uneventful first half of the second period, Bradley Marek, took a hooking penalty for Iowa and the Admirals took advantage as Ryan Ufko pinched in from the point and wristed a shot by Hlavaj. Vinnie Hinostroza and Kieffer Bellows picked up the assists on the goal at the 9:35 mark. Shots were even for the second period with both teams getting eight shots. Both teams had one power play with the Admirals cashing in on their opportunity.

Early in the third period Luke Toporowski came out of a scrum in the back with the puck, skated out front and got a shot on goal that produced a rebound that Brendan Gaunce pounced on to give the Wild a 2-1 lead. The Wild capitalized on the power play with 6:56 left in the game. Graeme Clarke’s shot from the slot just found the net popping out of Murray’s glove. The power play tally was Clarke’s fourth goal of the season with David Spacek picking up the only assist. Milwaukee went on the power play with 5:23 remaining in the game. 34 seconds into the power play, an errant pass found the stick of Mikey Milne who turned on the afterburners and beat Murray to the stick side on a breakaway to give the Wild a three goal advantage. Shots on goal indicated the lopsided nature of the third period as Iowa outshot Milwaukee 21-7. The Wild went 1-2 on the power play in the third and killed all three Admiral power plays.

Three stars of the game:

1. Gaunce
2. Clarke
3. Hlavaj

Notes:

Believe in Marek-les

Bradley Marek was an under the radar acquisition for the Wild organization. The 24 year old is in his second pro season, leaving Ferris State University after his sophomore season. Marek split last season between the San Jose Barracuda and Wichita Thunder, scoring five goals in 26 AHL contests. Playing as a bottom six forward for Iowa thus far in 2024-25 Marek already has scored six times with his goal last night proving to be the game winner in the Wild’s 5-2 win.

Clicking the turnstiles

According to numbers on HockeyDB, Iowa is averaging 6,103 fans per game thus far in the 2024-25 season. That number is down from 6,401 last season, BUT there are factors involved in the number being down. One is that thus far every weekend Iowa has been home, it has conflicted with big college football games involving Iowa or Iowa State. With their regular seasons wrapping up, that will no longer be an issue. Plus in the winter months, attendance picks up as fans are looking for more indoor entertainment options. The promotional schedule gets stronger as the season goes along, highlighted by a Travis Scott post game concert on Country Night on Saturday January 25th.

Big Ten prospects

A couple of Big Ten players currently in the Wild system have seen their play improve thus far in 2024-25. Jimmy Clark, a seventh round pick in 2023 has had a bigger role on the Minnesota Gophers thus far this season. Clark has 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in 18 games after only having 11 points in 39 games last season. Charlie Stramel, the first round pick, 21st overall in the 2023 draft is in his junior season, transferring from Wisconsin to Michigan State. The change of scenery has paid off as Stramel, after only getting eight points in 34 games for Wisconsin in his sophomore season, has four goals and seven assists for Michigan State in 14 games.
Wild goes Ka-bluey

The promotion at Wells Fargo Arena was a youth jersey giveaway and a visit from Bluey from the famous kid’s animation series. Judging by the amount of kids in the crowd and anytime there was music from the show being played, the promotion was a success.

By Kevin Luckow