AUSTIN, TX – Nick Swaney scored twice and the Iowa Wild scored two goals in each of the final two frames to earn a 5-2 victory over the Texas Stars. The victory locked Iowa into the fourth spot in the Central Division standings, as they will now take on the Rockford IceHogs in the first round of the AHL playoffs. Nic Petan had two assists and Jesper Wallstedt May 19 saves.

Texas scored the first goal of the game is Riley Damiani netted his 13th goal of the season just before the five-minute mark. Matej Blumel set up the goal when he won a race to negate an icing call. He then moved behind the net before passing the puck out to Damiani, who beat Wallstedt with a quick snap shot to make it 1-0.

Iowa was down, but they responded with four unanswered goals to take control of this game. The first came with just six seconds left in the period when Sammy Walker scored his 27th goal of the season to tie the score at one. Marco Rossi sent the puck toward the front of the net where it was knocked down, but Walker was able to dive forward, knocking the loose puck past Remi Poirier to send the team to the locker room tied.

Iowa scored two more goals in the third period, as Swaney scored twice to put his team on top. His first goal came at 8:47 when Swaney left a drop pass for Turner Ottenbreit in the neutral zone. The defenseman carried the puck into the Texas end, then dealt it to Swaney who fired a shot that deflected off the state of a Stars defenseman and in.

Exactly three minutes later Swaney was back on the board. His shot deflected to Petan who gained control before returning it back to Swaney. The forward slammed home the puck for his 18th goal of the year.

The Wild continued to pour it on in the third as Michael Milne score just before the four-minute mark to put Iowa on top by three. Tanner Kaspick passed the puck along the boards through the neutral zone and onto the stick of Riese Zmolek. He crossed the blueline, then sent a shot toward the net that Milne tipped past Poirier for his seventh goal of the year.

Texas cut the lead to two when Ben Gleason scored his ninth goal of the year at 10:36, but Patrick Curry restored the three-goal advantage, scoring with 4:51 left in the game to make it 5-2. It was a beautiful set up on the play as Daemon Hunt passed the puck in front to Damien Giroux who quickly fed it across the crease to Curry. He beat Poirier for his fourth goal of the year.

Wallstedt was solid in net, stopping 19 of the 21 shots he faced. He closed out the season with a 18-15-6 mark, posting a 2.68 GAA and a .908 save percentage. The victory snapped a two-game personal losing streak for the goalie.

The Wild will begin their chase for the Calder Cup on Wednesday when they travel to take on the IceHogs (35-28-9) in Rockford. Game 1 will be in Rockford and the teams will return to Des Moines on Friday for Game 2. If a Game 3 is needed, it will be played in Des Moines on Sunday Aryan

Gamesheet

by Robert Pannier