The Iowa Heartlanders fell in four road contests against ECHL Central Division opponents last week, gaining one standings point.

The Kalamazoo Wings downed the Heartlanders, 4-3, in overtime on Wednesday. Then, Iowa fell to the Cincinnati Cyclones, 4-2, on Friday and 5-2 on Saturday. The road trip ended with a 6-2 Heartlanders defeat against the Indy Fuel on Sunday.

Before surrendering three goals in the second period to the Wings on Wednesday night, the Heartlanders scored the first two goals in the contest as forward Kris Bennett scored on a power play and defenseman Fedor Gordeev found the back of the net in the opening frame.

Heartlanders forward Kaid Oliver tied Wednesday’s game with less than eight minutes left in regulation, sending the clubs into overtime. Wings forward Matheson Iacopelli ended the night at the two-minute mark of the sudden death period, giving the Heartlanders one point.

On Friday, the Heartlanders surrendered the first two goals against the Cyclones. Bennett and Oliver, who both scored on a power play, evened the contest in the second period. The Cyclones struck back in the third period with two goals.

History repeated itself Saturday when the Cyclones recorded the opening two scores again. After Iowa forward Zach White tallied a goal in the second period, Cincinnati pushed the lead back to two in the third.

Riese Zmolek, a Heartlanders defenseman, brought Iowa within one five minutes into the final frame on Saturday, but the Cyclones put the game away with two consecutive goals.

On Sunday, Heartlanders forward Ryan Kuffner kicked off the scoring in the first period against the Fuel. In the second period, the Fuel struck first. But the Heartlanders got the lead back with a six-on-five goal from forward Cole Stallard less than a minute later. The Fuel tied the game again halfway through the middle stanza.

The third period was all Fuel, as they scored four times — including once on an empty net.

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By earning one out of the possible eight standings points on the road series, the Heartlanders are almost out of playoff contention with six games remaining on their regular season schedule. 

The Heartlanders’ 27-30-8-1 record puts them in last place in the ECHL Central Division and seven points behind the fourth and final playoff spot in the division, which belongs to the Wheeling Nailers.

Iowa has dropped eight out of its nine last contests. The Heartlanders haven’t won a game since March 25. Iowa hasn’t picked up a road victory since March 5.

Up next

The Heartlanders will return to Xtream Arena for their final regular season series, facing three divisional foes.

The Heartlanders welcome the Nailers into Xtream Arena on Wednesday and the Wings on Friday. Their final home contest of their inaugural season will take place Saturday against the Fuel.

All three contests have a 7 p.m. puck drop.