Iowa Heartlanders drop two against Kalamazoo Wings, fall in standings
The Heartlanders lost to the Wings in Kalamazoo on Friday in regulation and Saturday in overtime.
Iowa forward Kaid Oliver moves the puck during a hockey game between the Iowa Heartlanders and Indy Fuel at the Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa on Friday, Nov. 12, 2021. Oliver scored one goal and one assist. Iowa won 5-3.
March 20, 2022
The Iowa Heartlanders recorded one standings point during their two-game series with the Kalamazoo Wings in Michigan on Friday and Saturday.
Iowa fell to Kalamazoo, 5-4, on Friday before dropping Saturday’s contest by the same score.
Wings forward Matheson Iacopelli recorded a hat trick Friday — though Kalamazoo’s Logan Lambdin scored the contest-clinching goal.
Heartlander forward Zach White recorded a career-high four points Friday — two of which came from goals. White scored his goals in the first and second periods.
It appeared the Wings would sweep the series Saturday in regulation with a 4-3 victory. But Heartlander forward Kaid Oliver had another plan when he scored with less than 2:30 left on the clock in third period to tie the game, 4-4. Despite the Heartlanders going on the power play in overtime, Wings forward Kyle Blaney ended the game with a goal with 31 seconds left in the sudden-death frame.
Big picture
The Heartlanders are 26-25-7-1 with 13 games left in the regular season. Their .508 points percentage puts them in sixth place in the ECHL Central Division. Before the series, they were fifth in the division, one spot ahead of the Wings.
With the Wings coming away from the series with four points and the Heartlanders with one, the clubs switched spots in the standings. The Wings are 30-27-0-0 with a .526 points percentage.
The Cincinnati Cyclones hold the fourth spot in the division with a 31-25-3-0 record and .551 points percentage. The top four franchises in the division qualify for the Kelly Cup Playoffs.
Jones returns to the net
Heartlander goaltender Hunter Jones started on both Friday and Saturday. He recorded 35 saves on 40 shots on Friday and then 37 saves on 42 shots on Saturday. The 2019 second-round NHL Entry Draft choice by the Minnesota Wild took the loss in each game.
The weekend represented the first time Jones competed for the Heartlanders since Feb. 11 against the Utah Grizzlies. He is 4-8-3 in a Heartlanders sweater, with his last win coming against the Wheeling Nailers on Feb. 5.
Up next
The Heartlanders will return to Xtream Arena this week for their second-to-last homestand of the 2021-22 season. They will face two division foes: the Fort Wayne Komets and the Cyclones.
Iowa will take on Fort Wayne on Wednesday and Cincinnati on Friday and Saturday.
