Hats flew onto the ice at Xtream Arena after Iowa Heartlanders forward Kris Bennett scored his third goal against the Cincinnati Cyclones Friday night.

Bennett became the first Heartlander to record a hat trick at Xtream Arena. His efforts helped Iowa rout Cincinnati, 5-0.

“Honestly, sometimes it’s just a little bit of luck that goes into it,” Bennett said of his first professional hat trick. “But I think the harder you work, the more luck finds you. It was just a special feeling. The crowd was great. The boys were flying tonight.”

Bennett has now scored 30 ECHL goals this season.

Forward Jake Smith is the only other Heartlander to record a hat trick. He did so on Jan. 9 when the Heartlanders took on the Rapid City Rush in South Dakota.

Iowa snapped its three-game losing streak with its win Friday.

“Everything comes back to a good bounce back game,” Heartlanders head coach Gerry Fleming said. “From the shutout to the good start to just our overall play. They had some pushback at times during the game, but I thought, when they did, our goalie was there to make those saves.”

Heartlanders goaltender Corbin Kaczperski stopped all 29 Cyclone shots he faced. He is now the first Iowa goalie to record a shutout.

“Honestly, I didn’t feel great going into that game,” Kaczperski said. “But the team made my job really, really easy, especially in those first two periods. I got to ease into the game a bit, which was nice. It honestly felt like a great team win.”

Big picture

The Heartlanders are now 27-26-7-1 with 62 standings points. That’s the same number of points as their ECHL Central Division rival, the Kalamazoo Wings. But because the standings are based on points percentage, the Heartlanders remain in sixth place while the Wings maintain fifth place. Iowa has played one more game than Kalamazoo, which effects points percentages.

Before Friday, Iowa hadn’t won a game since March 12. The Heartlanders beat the Wings, 4-3, that day.

Iowa is four points back of the third-place Wheeling Nailers and five points behind the fourth-place Cyclones in the division standings. The Heartlanders have 11 regular season contests left on their schedule.

Two Heartlanders make professional debuts

Forward Alex Esposito and defenseman Ryan Wheeler both competed in their first professional hockey games on Friday. The Heartlanders signed the skaters on Thursday.

Wheeler and Esposito hail from UConn and Providence, respectively.

Esposito did not show up on the state sheet, and Wheeler was credited with a secondary assist. Wheeler was also assessed a holding minor during the third period.

Up next

The Cyclones and Heartlanders will have a rematch on Saturday night at 7 p.m. inside Xtream Arena.

Iowa is 1-3-0-0 versus Cincinnati this season. Following Saturday’s contest, the clubs will face off in Cincinnati on April 1 and 2 to finish the seasons series.