The Iowa Heartlanders were shorthanded defensively in their Friday and Saturday matchups against the Toledo Walleye.

Nevertheless, Iowa’s defense let up just two goals each game to help lead the Heartlanders to two victories at Xtream Arena and improve their record to 7-12-2-1.

Typically, franchises in the ECHL play six defensemen per night. But there have been multiple nights during the Heartlanders’ inaugural campaign that they’ve had to compete with five.

It was even fewer on Friday when the Heartlanders hit the ice with just four defensemen — Riese Zmolek, Billy Constantinou, Adrien Beraldo, and Alex Carlson — in the lineup. Usual skaters on defense such as Jake Linhart and Fedor Gordeev were scratched Friday and Saturday.

Iowa’s 3-2 victory over the Walleye on Friday went to a shootout, and the two pairs on the ice had to split up 67 minutes of action instead of the usual 60.

“Unbelievable effort by our four defensemen,” forward Joe Widmar, who scored the game-winning goal on Friday, said. “I was out there in overtime, huffing and puffing, I can’t imagine how those four defensemen were. They all play unbelievable considering how many minutes they had to play. So, I think that was the story of the night.”

On top of that, defenseman Billy Constantinou served six penalty minutes in the second period. The Heartlanders defense surrendered both goals during that period but held steady in the third when forward Zach White tied the contest.

Assistant coach Derek Damon, who is filling in at the helm of the Heartlanders because head coach Gerry Fleming is in ECHL health and safety protocol, was impressed with how the defense played on Friday.

“Honestly, they battled hard,” Damon said. “You love to see that as a coach. Just how hard they’re competing, and they’re blocking shots and we’re down bodies. You got guys sick and injured and called up and doesn’t matter. You bring an honest effort and work hard, at the end of the day, you can look yourself in the mirror.”

Goaltender Trevin Kozlowski recorded 33 saves on 35 shots Friday. He followed that performance up Saturday with a 36 saves on 38 shots in the Heartlanders’ 3-2 comeback victory.

Before Saturday’s game, the Heartlanders added Carter Shinkaruk to the roster to have five defensemen active for the matchup. Iowa signed him before Wednesday’s contest against the Walleye and he competed in that game before getting released Thursday.

So, with Shinkaruk in the lineup on Saturday, the Heartlanders were up to five blueliners.

The unit struggled early, allowing a goal in each of the first two periods. But the defense was lights out in the third as Iowa mounted a comeback.

“That’s the biggest reason why we’ve won these last two games,” forward Yuki Miura said Saturday. “Like, yesterday, we only had four defensemen, and today we had five still, but they played so hard. I think all of them played 20, 25 minutes at least. It’s so hard, and they always make a good decision with the puck.”

Zmolek, who is signed to a one-year, two-way AHL contract with the Iowa Wild, was named an alternate captain for the Heartlanders on Nov. 11.

Though he’s been recalled to the AHL twice in the 2021-22 campaign, he was assigned back to the Heartlanders on Wednesday when the organization needed the boost.

“That guy is an absolute warrior,” Damon said Saturday. “Again, I can’t say enough good things about him. He was a captain at Minnesota State, Mankato, for a good reason. That guy, he’s a leader on and off the ice, and just to have that stabilizing presence back there. He’s blocking shots, he’s making hits, he kills a lot of plays with his stick and his ability to read plays.”