Iowa Falls 4-2 to Henderson in Season Opener at Wells Fargo Arena
October 13, 2023 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Iowa Wild News Release
DES MOINES, Iowa - The Iowa Wild opened the 2023-24 season with a thriller at Wells Fargo Arena on Friday night, but were unable to erase a two-goal third period deficit and fell 4-2 to the Henderson Silver Knights.
The Silver Knights got on the scoreboard first with a power-play goal at 12:04 of the first period. Sheldon Rempal received a pass from Jake Bischoff at the top of the right circle and fired a wrister over the shoulder of a screened Jesper Wallstedt (19 saves).
Kale Kessy brough the crowd of 8,711 to its feet with a spirited bout against Layton Ahac with just under three minutes in the opening frame, and Iowa scored six seconds later. Jujhar Khaira poked the ensuing faceoff out to Ryan O'Rourke for a point shot and Jake Lucchini buried the rebound past Jiri Patera (30 saves) at 17:10.
The teams entered the first intermission tied at 1-1. Iowa outshot Henderson 12-10 through 20 minutes.
Henderson regained the lead with another power-play tally just 1:31 into the second when Byron Froese finished off a backdoor pass from Tyler Benson on an odd-man rush.
The Silver Knights carried the 2-1 lead into the second intermission. Iowa led the shot count 21-16.
Henderson extended its advantage to 3-1 with another transition goal at 7:53 of the third. Adam Cracknell got on the end of a one-touch pass from Mason Morelli and elevated the puck over Wallstedt.
The Wild pulled within one with 3:59 remaining. Khaira entered the zone and laid a pass off for Lucchini, who slid a feed to Adam Beckman at the top of the right circle for a one-timer past the glove hand of Patera.
Cracknell capped the scoring with an empty-net goal with 10 seconds left.
Iowa outshot Henderson 32-23. The Wild were 0-for-2 on the man advantage while the Silver Knights went 2-for-5 on the power play.
Iowa squares off with Henderson again at Wells Fargo Arena on Saturday, Oct. 14 at 6 p.m. The first 1,500 fans receive a Hoptoberfest themed poster schedule giveaway presented by FuseBox One and KXnO.
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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