On Friday night at Wells Fargo Arena in front of 6,550, the Iowa Wild celebrated Veteran’s Night a day early as Iowa Wild veteran players led the way in a 5-3 win. The line of Ben Jones (two goals, three assists), Devin Shore (two assists), and Reese Johnson (one goal, one assist) combined for nine points.

The Wild struck first in the opening stanza as Jones cashed in on a feed from Johnson behind the net and beat Stars goalie Magnus Hellberg (25 saves on 29 shots) to put Iowa on top five minutes in. It would be the only goal in a first period in which Texas outshot Iowa 10-9.

The Stars knotted the game on the power play early in the second period as Antonio Sturges beat Wild goalie Jesper Wallstedt (32 saves on 35 shots) with a shot from the point three seconds into the power play. However the Stars got into penalty issues and would pay for it as
on a five on three it was Luke Toporowski cashing in to put the Wild back in front. Three minutes later at 7:36, the Wild stretched the lead to two goals as Johnson was the recipient of a no look touch pass from Jones in front of the Wild net, converting for his third goal of the season. Late in the period, it was long time Wild nemesis Curtis McKenzie scoring his third goal of the season, deflecting a shot past Wallstedt to make it a 3-2 game heading into the third period. Shots were 13-9 in favor of the Stars in the second period.

Two minutes into the third period, Graeme Clarke who the Wild acquired in the Adam Beckman trade last Summer, scored his first goal in an Iowa jersey, a power play goal, to give the Wild their two goal lead back. It looked like Iowa was going to cruise to a comfortable victory but the Stars and Cameron Hughes had other ideas. The Stars forward pounced on a rebound to score a short handed goal late in the third to put a scare into the Wild faithful as it was once again a one goal game, 4-3. A Johnson cross checking penalty gave the Stars a six on four advantage for the final two minutes of the game. Jones however finished off his five point night with what looked like a nine iron shot from center ice into a yawning Stars net to give the Wild their two goal cushion back and wrap up the scoring in a 5-3 win. Texas outshot Iowa 13-11 in the final period and 35-30 for the night.

In a game that saw eighteen combined penalties, the Wild went two for seven on the power play while the Stars went two for five. Both teams had a shorthanded goal.

Three Stars of the Game:

1. Jones

2. Clarke

3. Johnson

Notes:

Rookie forward Liam Ohgren didn’t play on Friday night. After getting a hat trick last Saturday night, Ohgren was an Emergency Callup to Minnesota in case Joel Erikkson Ek cannot play on Saturday night against Dallas. Mikey Milne is already up with Minnesota and could play in his first NHL game on Saturday as Mats Zuccarello went on the IR on Friday. Minnesota could also