TOLEDO, OH – Hunter Jones stopped 31 shots, continuing his impressive run as the Iowa Heartlanders defeated the Toledo Walleye on Friday, 3-1. The victory was the third in a row for Jones, who lowered his goals against average to 3.02. Three different players scored goals for the Heartlanders, including Marek Korencik, who netted his first professional goal.

Toledo jumped out in front, taking the lead 4:45 into the contest when Riley McCourt scored his fifth goal of the year. Ty Enns took a shot that Jones saved, but McCourt scooped up the rebound and put it in to make it 1-0.

Iowa had outshot Toledo 14-7 in the first, but came away trailing. However, they put the pressure on to start the second, scoring twice in the first 2:15 to take the lead. The first goal came at 1:17 when Tommy Parrottino scored his 20th goal of the season. Parrottino picked up an errant pass in front of his own end and then went the opposite direction on a breakaway, lifting the puck over the shoulder of Jon Bednar to knot the game at one.

It did not stay tied for long however, as the Heartlanders took the lead 58 seconds later. Louis Boudon took a shot from point blank range that was knocked down but back to Korencik near the point. He lifted a wrist shot that beat Bednar to the blocker to put Iowa on top, 2-1.

The lead held through the first intermission, despite Toledo outshooting Iowa 18-11 in the second. In the third, the Heartlanders sealed the victory when Jake Durflinger scored his sixth goal of the year at 10:33. After Jones made a big save on a one-timer, Chris Lipe moved the puck to Jesse Jacques, who sent the puck up the boards to Durflinger in the neutral zone. The forward was in a 1-on-3 as he entered the Walleye end, opting to take a shot that found the upper corner inside the far post to make it 3-1.

The three goals were more than enough for Jones, who was absolutely spectacular in this game. He single-handedly shutdown Toledo in the second, peppered at one point by seven consecutive shots in the span of less than two minutes.

The Iowa Heartlanders (18-33-14) remain on the road, traveling to take on the Kalamazoo Wings (26-34-4) on Saturday. The puck drops at 6:00 Iowa time.

Gamesheet

By Robert Pannier