Iowa went 1-1-1 in its most recent three-game stretch. Iowa opened a two-game set against San Diego on Friday, Jan. 12, a game in which it fell 3-2 in a shootout. Caedan Bankier opened the scoring for Iowa in the first period, while Jake Lucchini tied the game with a late third period goal. Zane McIntyre stopped 24-of-26 shots faced in regulation and overtime, and 1-of-3 shots in the shootout.
The two teams closed out the series on Saturday, Jan 13 with Iowa winning 2-1 in overtime. Lucchini again scored the tying goal in the third period with Ryan O’Rourke netting the game-winner in overtime, with assists from Michael Milne and McIntyre. Along with his assist, McIntyre stopped 30-of-31 shots faced in regulation and overtime.
Iowa then traveled to Tucson, AZ, where it opened a two-game set against the Roadrunners on Monday, Jan. 15. Iowa fell to Tucson in the opening game, 3-1. Steven Fogarty was the lone goal scorer for Iowa, while McIntyre stopped 22-of-24 shots faced in his third start of the week.
Through 35 games, Iowa is 13-19-3 with Nic Petan (10-19=29) leading all skaters with 29 points. Lucchini (11-11=22) and Sammy Walker (6-16=22) each have 22 points on the season.
Jesper Wallstedt is 11-9-0 with a 2.54 GAA, a .917 SV% and two shutouts. He ranks T-9th in the AHL in wins and 10th in SV%. McIntyre is 2-9-3 with a 3.13 GAA and a .895 SV%.
Iowa will close out its series with Tucson tonight at 7:30 p.m. before heading to Rockford on Saturday, Jan. 20 to face the IceHogs at 7:00 p.m., then it will host the Texas Stars on Wednesday, Jan. 22 at 7:00 p.m.
