IOWA STUBBORN

DES MOINES, Iowa – Christoph Bertschy scored a pair of power play goals while Steve Michalek stopped 35 shots as the Iowa Wild held off the Grand Rapids Griffins 4-2 on Friday at Wells Fargo Arena.

Tomas Nosek started the scoring shorthanded for the Griffins (26-18-1-1) 8:47 into the opening period. After a successful clearing attempt from Louis-Marc Aubry, Michalek initially decided to play the puck behind his own net, but bizarrely changed his mind and left the puck behind as he returned to his goal. Nosek won the race to the loose puck, converting on a wraparound at the right post.

Bertschy responded on the power play for Iowa (15-28-3-3) 1:22 later. Five seconds into a Xavier Ouellet hooking minor, Gustav Olofsson set up Bertschy for a one-timer at the left point, scoring low to Tom McCollum’s glove side.

Tyler Graovac gave Iowa the lead with 7:17 left in the first. After Colton Beck had his attempt blocked by the stick of Ryan Sproul at the left post on a 2-on-1, the rebound ended up in the goal mouth, with Graovac chipping a rolling puck into an open net.

Iowa carried the momentum into the second period, with Zack Mitchell adding to the Wild’s lead at the 1:21 mark. Olofsson’s pass from the right corner reached Maxime Fortunus in the high slot for a one-timer that was redirected by Mitchell at the left post for his 17th of the campaign.

Bertschy scored his second power play goal of the night to make it a three-goal cushion 2:04 later. After Grayson Downing’s sharp-angle shot from the left corner was stopped by McCollum, the rebound was picked up at the left circle by Bertschy, who sent a wrist shot low to the blocker side. Jordan Schroeder extended his point streak to a franchise-record seventh consecutive game with the secondary assist.

Grand Rapids controlled the play in the final frame, outshooting the Wild 17-3. However, the Griffins only breakthrough came from Sproul with 17:26 remaining. Mark Zengerle’s feed from the right point found Sproul for a one-timer that made its way through traffic and past a screened Michalek.

Iowa finished 2-for-4 on the power play, while the Griffins were unable to score on three opportunities. McCollum turned aside 24 of 28 shots in a losing effort. The Griffins have a rematch with the Wild on Saturday at 8 p.m. EST at Wells Fargo Arena.

Three Stars: 1. IA Bertschy (two goals, assist); 2. IA Olofsson (two assists); 3. IA Mitchell (goal, assist)

Notes: Friday’s result marked the first time the Griffins had lost in nine visits to Wells Fargo Arena. Grand Rapids is 15-3-0-0 all-time against Iowa…McCollum set a Griffins' franchise record, surpassing Joey MacDonald with his 211th appearance between the pipes.