Power Play Production Leads Wild Past IceHogs

Rockford, IL- The Iowa Wild (32-30-4-5) live to see another day as they kept their hopes for the fifth and final playoff spot alive with a 5-3 win over the Rockford IceHogs (36-28-4-1) Sunday evening at BMO Harris Bank Center. Three of their five goals came on the power play.

Iowa struck early on the man-advantage when IceHogs forward Carson Gicewicz was called for tripping. Just over 20 seconds later, forward Mason Shaw scored on the power play to give the Wild a 1-0 lead at 5:16 in the opening frame.

Iowa extended their lead once again on the power play when forward Nick Swaney scored on a rebound off the post to make it a 2-0 game at 10:53 in the first period.

But the IceHogs battled back when forward Andrei Altybarmakian fired a shot from center ice that Iowa goaltender Zane McIntyre missed with the glove to make it a 2-1 contest at 11:02. Altybarmakian is now on a 5-game goal streak. Nicolas Beaudin and Lukas Reichel picked up the assists on that tally, giving Reichel his 52^nd point of the season. He now holds the new record for most points in a single season by an IceHogs rookie.

Rockford then tied it in the second period when forward Cameron Morrison netted it on the second effort at 5:07 in the frame. Forward Dylan McLaughlin and defenseman Wyatt Kalynuk picked up the assists, extending Kalynuk’s assist streak to five games.

Later in the period after Ryan Stanton was called for unsportsmanlike conduct, the Wild struck for the third time on the power play, this time just eight seconds in when forward Mitchell Chaffee scored his 23^rd goal of the season at 16:15 to give the Iowa a 3-2 lead.

But once again the IceHogs were relentless as forward Mike Hardman found the back of the net on a power play goal to tie the game 3-3 5:12 into the third period. Reichel once again picked up the assist along with forward Michal Teply.

However Iowa answered right back when forward Kyle Rau came down the left wing and fired it past Soderblom to make it 4-3 at 9:27 in the closing frame. With the goal Rau picked up his 198^th point in an Iowa sweater, and is the all-time points leader for the Wild.

Later in the period, Rau netted the empty netter to seal the 5-3 win for the Wild as they live to see another day and fight for that fifth and final playoff spot.

The IceHogs are back in action on Wednesday, April 27 as they travel to Iowa for a 7:0 p.m. matchup. From there they will go to Milwaukee on Friday before returning home on Saturday, April 30 against the Chicago Wolves for the final regular season game of the year.

Watch and listen to the action on the IceHogs Broadcast Network presented by BMO Harris Bank! Tune in from your favorite device, at home or on the road at IceHogs.com and on the IceHogs app! Fans can also watch every IceHogs home game and select road games this season on 23.3 Circle TV and every game on AHLTV and listen in on all of Mid-West Family’s local stations including 104.9 The X, B103, 95.3 The Bull, and Rockford Greatest Hits 100.5 and featured on Rock River Current.