McIntyre Sharp But Wild Fall in Shootout, 2-1
DES MOINES, IA – Zane McIntyre stopped 31 shots, but the offense could only produce one goal as the Iowa Wild lost in a shootout to the Milwaukee Admirals on Wednesday, 2-1. Joe Hicketts scored the only goal for the Wild who moved one point behind the Texas Stars in the Central Division standings.
This was a scoreless contest through the first period as both McIntyre and Milwaukee netminder Connor Ingram were spectacular. Ingram stopped 11 shots while McIntyre set aside nine, but both teams would net goals before the midway point of the second period.
Hicketts put the Wild on top with his 11th goal of the year at the seven-minute mark. Mason Shaw passed the puck back to Hicketts at the point, who lifted a wrist shot that beat Ingram to make it 1-0.
The lead did not last long, however, as Cole Schneider tied the score just 66 seconds later. Schneider led a 2-on-1 break into the Iowa zone. It looked like he was trying to make the pass, but opted to shoot the puck himself, beating McIntyre for his 28th goal of the year.
The goaltenders took over from there. Ingram stopped nine shots in the second and 14 in the third, giving him 34 saves through regulation. McIntyre was spectacular as well, stopping 29 shots through the first 60 minutes.
With the score tied at one, the contest headed to overtime where the Wild dominated for the most part, outshooting the Admirals, 6-2. However, Ingram was the difference, shutting down the Wild on a couple of great opportunities. With no winner through the extra session, the game went to a shootout. Milwaukee scored on both of their first two attempts while Iowa was shut down, giving the Admirals the 2-1 victory.
Despite taking the loss, it was another spectacular outing by McIntyre. He has allowed one or zero goals in five of his last seven games, allowing 11 total goals during that span. That has helped to lower his goals-against average to 2.32 since joining Iowa with a .922 save percentage.
The Wild moved to 29-27-9 (67 points, 0.515), putting them one point behind the Texas Stars. Texas has played one more game than Iowa. The Wild look to get back into the win column when they travel to Grand Rapids to take on the Griffins on Friday. The puck drops at 6:00 Iowa time.
By Robert Pannier
