Wallstedt Sinks Admirals in Late Morning Affair

DES MOINES, IA – Jesper Wallstedt stopped 30 shots to lead the Iowa Wild to a 3-1 victory over the Milwaukee Admirals in a late morning affair on Thursday. Nic Petan and Andy Welinski each had two points for the Wild who moved a point ahead of the Admirals in the Central Division standings with the win.
The game looked like he would head to the first intermission scoreless, but Simon Johansson brought the crowd of nearly 9700 to their feet when he scored with 12 seconds left in the first period. Sammy Walker passed the puck to Petan who dished it back to Johansson at the point. He blasted a shot that found its way through traffic and past Admirals netminder Troy Grosenick for his third goal of the year.
Iowa held the one goal advantage until 14:36 of the second when Egor Afanasyev scored a shorthanded goal to tie the score at one. Jasper Weatherby led a 2-on-1 break into the Wild end, feeding the puck to Afanasyev who beat Wallstedt for his third goal of the year.
A little over two minutes later Steven Fogarty scored on the power-play to restore the one goal Wild advantage. Petan passed the puck back to Welinski at the point, who took a shot that Fogarty redirected past the Milwaukee netminder for his second goal of the year.
Milwaukee dominated much of the action in the third, outshooting Iowa 9-4. However, Welinski sealed the victory with an empty net tally with 1:35 left in the contest. It was his first goal of the year.
Welinski finished with a goal and an assist and Petan had two assists for the Wild. Wallstedt moved to 3-2-1 while lowering his goals-against average to 2.42.
The Iowa Wild (3-4-1) welcome the Texas Stars (3-2-2) for a two-game series starting on Saturday. The puck drops at 6:00.
by Robert Pannier