KAHKONEN, WILD STYMIE ICEHOGS IN SHOOTOUT
ROCKFORD, Ill - Despite a season-high mark of 41 saves from Collin Delia, the Iowa Wild escaped with a 2-1 shootout victory over the Rockford IceHogs Saturday night at the BMO Harris Bank Center.
The 24-year-old Rockford netminder is now unbeaten in regulation in six of his seven starts this season.
Delia’s counterpart, Iowa goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen, stopped an Anthony Louis wrister to seal the shootout. The game hinged on Louis’s attempt after Sam Anas and Gerry Fitzgerald converted for Iowa and Kahkonen stymied Victor Ejdsell on Rockford’s first attempt.
Brennan Menell got the Wild off to an early lead on a long shot from the point. Menell tallied just 1:51 into the game, and the Wild were unable to beat Delia for the remainder of regulation or overtime.
Louis evened the scoring for Rockford at the 17:01 mark of the second period after Henrik Samuelsson deked through the Iowa defense and delivered a centering feed for Louis to deposit from the right side. The goalies prevailed for the remainder of regulation after Samuelsson’s tally, and the IceHogs headed to overtime for the third consecutive game with the contest tied at one apiece.
Rockford was able to tilt the ice in overtime, drawing a penalty and ringing two shots off the post. But the IceHogs were unable to land the finishing blow and the game was decided in the shootout.
The IceHogs will cap their weekend three-in-three with a rematch against Iowa on Sunday at Wells Fargo Arena.