Saturday’s contest between the Iowa Heartlanders and the Fort Wayne Komets may be remembered for its 168 combined penalty minutes — the most in an ECHL game during the 2021-22 season.

But what helped the Heartlanders to their sixth consecutive win was their four first-period goals. Iowa ultimately won the game at Xtream Arena, 6-2.

Forwards Zach White, Ben Sokay, Kaid Oliver, and Kris Bennett all found the back of the net in the first 20 minutes of play for the Heartlanders.

“I mean, we’re excited,” defenseman Riese Zmolek said. “We’re chasing these guys down in the standings, so we knew we needed a fast start, especially after last night. We knew they were probably going to come out strong, so we needed a strong start as well.”

Iowa forward Josh Koepplinger scored twice on Saturday, registering one goal in the second period and another in third. Before Saturday, Koepplinger had never scored an ECHL goal.

Friday’s game turned chaotic in the third period. Five game misconducts, one misconduct, and 12 fighting infractions were assessed during the period. At the end of the night, the Komets had 92 penalty minutes, while the Heartlanders left with 76.

“I think for the past couple weeks, we’re doing the little things in practice,” Zmolek said. “Everyone, no matter what they bring to the team, they’re doing it. Everyone’s sacrificing their bodies, whether it’s defensively minded, offensively minded, our top line is unbelievable right now.”

A Dec. 6 game between the Kalamazoo Wings and Utah Grizzlies previously held the 2021-22 record for penalty minutes with 113.

“I think it was an old school game, so pretty proud of the boys and the way they stuck up,” Heartlanders head coach Gerry Fleming said of Saturday’s Komets-Heartlanders contest. “There was a lot of cheap stuff out there, but you’re going to have games like that sometimes.

Big picture

With the victory, the Heartlanders moved into fifth place in the ECHL Central Division. Their 23-23-6-1 record puts them at a 0.500 points percentage.

Iowa is one place out of a playoff spot, as the top four teams in each division at end of the regular season advance to the Kelly Cup Playoffs.

The Komets currently occupy fourth place in the ECHL Central Division, meaning they would make the playoffs if the season ended today.

Fort Wayne owns a 0.560 points percentage, but it’s played three fewer games than Iowa.

Two Heartlanders extend streaks

With his two assists in the first period on Saturday, Ryan Kuffner extended his point streak to 16 games. Kuffner’s run is the longest in Heartlanders history.

Counting his goal on Saturday, Sokay has now recorded five goals in as many games — tied for the longest streak in Heartlanders history. Before his recent stretch, he’d tallied just five goals on the year.

Up next

The Heartlanders will not play in any midweek games next week as they aren’t scheduled to compete until March 5. Iowa’s next game will pit it against the Kansas City Mavericks in Missouri at Cable Dahmer Arena.

Kansas City is 24-25-2-1 and sits in last place in the ECHL Mountain Division. The Mavericks will face off against the Utah Grizzlies once and the Wichita Thunder twice before playing the Heartlanders.