Iowa Falls 5-4 to Texas in Country Night Thriller
Published on January 17, 2026 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Iowa Wild News Release
DES MOINES, Iowa - The Toronto Marlies dealt the Iowa Wild a narrow defeat in a 5-4 decision at Casey's Center on Saturday night.
Borya Valis opened the scoring for Toronto 2:13 into the game with a backdoor tip-in over the left pad of Riley Mercer (17 saves) on the power play.
Carson Lambos evened the score for the Wild with a wrister through traffic 2:25 later with an assist from Caedan Bankier.
Iowa took the lead at the end of a power play at 6:45. Elliot Desnoyer set up Jean-Luc Foudy for a one-timer from the left circle and Bankier slammed the rebound into an empty net.
Gerry Mayhew made the score 3-1 with a nifty deflection that squeezed between Vyacheslav Peska (four saves) and the near post at 8:54. Oskar Olausson and Dylan Gambrell assisted on Mayhew's tally.
Iowa outshot Toronto 7-3 in the first period. Artur Akhtyamov (14 saves) replaced Peska after 20 minutes.
The Marlies responded with a four-goal outburst in the middle frame. Valis found the back of the net again at 2:59 before Logan Shaw added a pair of goals at 10:53 and 16:25. Logan Haymes made the score 5-3 with a shot under the crossbar from the wall with one second left in the period.
The Marlies outshot the Wild 21-14 through 40 minutes.
The Wild rallied to close the margin to a single goal with 4:36 remaining. After Desnoyers sent a centering pass to Foudy, Olausson jumped on a loose puck and punched it past Akthyamov.
Each team finished with 22 shots. The Wild went 1-for-4 with the man advantage while the Marlies finished 3-for-6 on the power play.
Iowa hosts the Texas Stars on Wednesday, Jan. 21 at 7 p.m.
Iowa Wild hockey is presented by Kwik Star. For more information on Iowa Wild hockey, please visit www.iowawild.com. Season tickets for 2026-27 are on sale now. Fans can purchase season tickets for the upcoming season at https://www.iowawild.com/wild-365.
Iowa Wild home games are played at Casey's Center. Iowa Wild games are now streaming on AHLTV on FloHockey. Fans can visit FloHockey.tv now to create a free account, purchase subscriptions for the 2025-26 season, and watch all Iowa Wild games online.
American Hockey League Stories from January 17, 2026
- Ostman's 28-Save Shutout, Nyman's Multi-Goal Effort Leads Firebirds over Gulls - Coachella Valley Firebirds
- Ostman's Shutout, Nyman's Multi-Goal Effort Leads Firebirds to 4-0 Win over Gulls - Coachella Valley Firebirds
- Postava Notches First AHL Shutout in Griffins' Victory over Milwaukee - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Stars Lose Late Heartbreaker to Reign - Texas Stars
- Wolves Hammer IceHogs, 5-2, for Third Win in Row - Chicago Wolves
- Crunch Hold off Phantoms - Lehigh Valley Phantoms
- Miner Earns 33-Save Shutout in Eagles' 3-0 Blanking of Henderson - Colorado Eagles
- Iowa Falls 5-4 to Texas in Country Night Thriller - Iowa Wild
- Penguins Exact Revenge on Hartford, Win 4-1 - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Syracuse Crunch Defeat Lehigh Valley Phantoms, 4-1 - Syracuse Crunch
- Cleveland Defeated 5-0 in Providence - Cleveland Monsters
- Amerks Come up Empty-Handed in Utica - Rochester Americans
- Blumel, DiPietro Help P-Bruins Blank Monsters - Providence Bruins
- Ads Stifled by Grand Rapids - Milwaukee Admirals
- T-Birds Offense Dries up in Bridgeport - Springfield Thunderbirds
- Early Hole Too Much to Overcome as Wolf Pack Fall 4-1 to Penguins - Hartford Wolf Pack
- Islanders Edge Thunderbirds 4-1, Extend Win Streak to Four Wins - Bridgeport Islanders
- Comets Back in the Win Column, Blank Amerks 3-0 - Utica Comets
- Cristall Caps 4-3 OT Comeback Win for Bears over Checkers - Hershey Bears
- DiVincentiis Shutout Lifts Moose at Laval - Manitoba Moose
- Checkers Snag Point, Fall in OT to Bears - Charlotte Checkers
- Wranglers Fall 5-1 to Bakersfield - Calgary Wranglers
- McDonald Recalled to Flyers - Lehigh Valley Phantoms
- New York Rangers Assign D Connor Mackey to Hartford Wolf Pack - Hartford Wolf Pack
- Providence Bruins Recall Luke Cavallin from Mariners - Providence Bruins
- Preview: Phantoms vs. Syracuse, Game 37 - Lehigh Valley Phantoms
- Game Preview: Bears at Checkers, 4 p.m. - Hershey Bears
- Gulls Blank Canucks, 1-0 - San Diego Gulls
- The Canucks Fall, 1-0, to the San Diego Gulls - Abbotsford Canucks
- Roadrunners Extend Win Streak to Five with 4-2 Victory over Barracuda - Tucson Roadrunners
- Barracuda Topped by Tucson, 4-2 - San Jose Barracuda
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
