Last Sunday, the Iowa Heartlanders secured their first-ever road win. The following Wednesday, Iowa defeated the Kansas City Mavericks, 4-1. Before Nov. 24, the Heartlanders had never won back-to-back games.

Iowa then dropped two consecutive matches to the Wheeling Nailers at Xtream Arena in Coralville.

Against the Mavericks, the Heartlanders scored after just two minutes of action. Forward Kris Bennett was credited with the goal.

The Heartlanders finished their game against the Mavericks having put up a season-high 51 shots on goal.

“I thought we came out in the first period,” Heartlanders head coach Gerry Fleming said Wednesday. “I thought we built upon what we did well in Fort Wayne the other night. Guys were playing their positions, they were moving the puck, they were making high-percentage plays and executing them. As a result, we generated some offense.” 

Bennett and his fellow forward, Yuki Miura, were named the Heartlanders’ first and second stars of the game.

Miura assisted both of Bennett’s goals against the Mavericks.

For Bennett’s first score, Miura passed the puck across the ice to the right circle where Bennett snapped a shot into the net. 

For the captain’s second tally, the rookie from Japan made a pass from the trapezoid to Bennett on the left circle. Bennett went down to his left knee, cashing a left-handed shot past the Mavericks goaltender.

“He’s always where he should be to score goals,” Miura said of Bennett Wednesday. 

The Heartlanders couldn’t maintain their winning streak on Black Friday as they fell to the Wheeling Nailers, 7-4. 

The Heartlanders surrendered two goals in the first period and then tied it up in the first minute of the second frame when forward Alex Khovanov struck twice in 12 seconds.

The Nailers then scored the game’s next four goals. The deficit proved to be insurmountable for Iowa, as it only accumulated 16 shots on goal on the day.

The Heartlanders wrapped up their three-game homestand with a 4-2 loss to the Nailers. Wheeling forward Justin Almeida recorded all four of the Nailers’ goals in the game.

“We played a lot on the perimeters tonight,” Fleming said postgame Saturday. “We had some looks, but there were no second or third looks because we couldn’t get to the blue paint. They did a good job of boxing us out, but we have to fight a little bit harder to get to those areas to get easy goals.” 

RELATED: Iowa Heartlanders win first road game in franchise history

Big picture 

The 4-10-2 Heartlanders are tied for last place in the ECHL Central Division and six points out of a playoff spot. 

Iowa has tallied 47 goals so far in the season — 12th out of 27 teams in the league. But the Heartlanders have allowed 75 goals, which is the most surrendered by any team in the ECHL by a nine-goal margin.

Bennett has emerged as the Heartlanders’ leader with nine goals, 10 assists, and 19 points.

Goaltender Hunter Jones, who started Wednesday and Saturday, has three wins on the season. Trevin Kozlowski, the Heartlanders’ other goaltender, secured his only win on Nov. 12 against the Indy Fuel.

Physicality shows up 

The Heartlanders were chippy throughout the homestand, racking up multiple roughing and fighting penalties.

Against the Mavericks on Wednesday, four different Heartlanders were called for roughing, and defenseman Adrien Beraldo received a fighting major.

The Friday showdown against the Nailers had fewer penalties, though forward Cole Stallard received a game misconduct for aggression in the third period. The ECHL announced Saturday that it suspended him for three games and fined him an undisclosed amount.

In total, Iowa recorded 56 penalty minutes in the three games.

Up next 

The Heartlanders will have one more game at Xtream Arena before hitting the road. Iowa will play the Wichita Thunder in the clubs’ first-ever meeting at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.

The 8-5-1 Thunder are in third place in the ECHL Mountain Division and compete Sunday against the Rapid City Rush.