Game Preview: Iowa Wild vs. Hershey Bears
April 6, 2024 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Iowa Wild News Release
Iowa Wild (24-35-4-2; 54 pts.) vs. Hershey Bears (49-12-0-5; 103 pts.)
The Iowa Wild and Hershey Bears complete a weekend set at Wells Fargo Arena on Saturday at 6 p.m. The Wild will host Jesper Wallstedt Bobblehead Night presented by Niece Trucking, with a Jesper Wallstedt bobblehead giveaway for the first 1,500 fans presented by Home Solutions of Iowa and LAZER 103.3. Fans can bid on the team's white alternate jerseys during the first two periods of the game for a chance to receive jerseys off the players' backs postgame.
ALL-TIME SERIES
All-Time Iowa Wild Record: 0-3-0-0 (0-1-0-0 at Wells Fargo Arena, 0-2-0-0 at Hershey)
Last Time: Hershey beat Iowa 7-2 on Friday night at Wells Fargo Arena... Ethen Frank had a hat trick for the Bears... Vladislav Firstov scored his first AHL goal for the Wild... Jesper Wallstedt stopped 19-of-26 shots... Clay Stevenson turned aside 20-of-22 shots to take the win
2022-23: Iowa finished 34-27-6-5 and made the Calder Cup Playoffs for the second time in franchise history... Hershey recorded a record of 44-19-5-4... The Bears beat the Coachella Valley Firebirds in seven games to win the Calder Cup for the 12th time in team history
TEAM NOTES
SPECIAL TEAMS STATS: Iowa has scored a power-play goal in three of the last four games (4-for-12)... The Wild are 2-for-9 with the man advantage against the Bears this season... Hershey is 3-for-8 on the power play against Iowa
SCORING FIRST: Hershey has scored the first goal in all three meetings this season... Iowa is 8-32-1-1 when allowing the first goal
CLOSE CONTESTS: Iowa entered Friday's game having played 22 consecutive games without losing by more than three goals... Each of the first two games in the season series with Hershey had been decided by a single goal... Each of Iowa's previous three contests were decided by a single goal... The Wild dropped to 6-21-0-0 in games decided by three or more goals
WALKER'S STREAK
Sammy Walker enters Saturday's game riding a four-game point streak (2-3=5)
Walker has reached five-game point streaks twice in his AHL career
Walker ranks tied for the team lead in points (40), second in assists (26), and third in goals (14)
Walker leads Iowa with 161 shots
ABOUT "THE WAVE"
The first 1,500 fans at Saturday's game will receive a Jesper Wallstedt bobblehead
The bobblehead also features a moving glove hand in a nod to Wallstedt's "wave" after home wins
The "wave" originated in during Wallstedt's time playing for Luleå HF in Sweden
After home wins, the entire Luleå HF team circles the ice and salutes the crowd with a wave
BETWEEN THE PIPES
Hershey goaltender Clay Stevenson enters Saturday's game with a 1.97 GAA and a 0.925 SAV%
The Bears have allowed a league-best 2.06 goals against per game
Hershey has also allowed the fewest shots per game in the AHL (25.82)
For more information on Iowa Wild hockey, please visit www.iowawild.com. Fans can purchase single-game tickets through the team's website at www.iowawild.com. Group tickets (10 or more), suites, Wild 365 memberships or premium tickets can be purchased by contacting the Iowa Wild Ticket Department at 515-564-8700 or tickets@iowawild.com. Season tickets for 2023-24 are on sale now. Fans can purchase season tickets for the upcoming season at https://www.iowawild.com/wild-365.
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