Game 16 Preview: Wheeling at Iowa

Landers look to reboot Saturday

Coralville, IA – The Iowa Heartlanders (4-9-2-0, 10 pts.) play their third straight home game and oppose the Wheeling Nailers (7-6-0-0, 14 pts.) Saturday at 7:00 p.m. on Small Business Saturday, with a fanbango giveaway thanks to Steindler Orthopedic Clinic. Tickets are available by calling 319-569-GOAL and visiting iowaheartlanders.com/tickets.Broadcast Coverage: Listen at Iowaheartlanders.com/listenlive or mixlr.com/goheartlanders. Watch on FloHockey.tv. NHL Affiliates: Iowa Heartlanders (Minnesota Wild/Iowa Wild) | Wheeling Nailers (Pittsburgh Penguins/Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins)Last Time OutAlex Khovanov scored twice, Yuki Miura tallied his second of the season and Bryce Misley scored a power-play goal, but Wheeling defeated the Iowa Heartlanders, 7-4.Trevin Kozlowski suffered the defeat, allowing six before Jared Cockrell netted an empty-net goal. Alex D’Orio earned the win with 13 saves.Justin Almeida and Will Reilly scored twice for Wheeling.Iowa leaders Kris Bennett is best on the Iowa Heartlanders with eight goals, nine assists and 17 points. He had two assists Friday. The rookie has points in all but one game this season and has at least one point in each of his eight games since returning from the AHL.Hunter Jones leads the Heartlanders with three wins. Trevin Kozlowski is 1-2-0-0 in his last two starts. Scouting the NailersThe Nailers’ seven-goal effort Friday was Wheeling’s highest-scoring effort of the season Head Coach Derek Army is in his first full season as bench boss. Last season, he took over midway through the campaign for Mark French. Army is one of the most-notable recent players in Nailers history; he skated five seasons for the club and helped lead the team to the 2016 Kelly Cup Finals. Derek’s father, Tim Army, is the Head Coach of the Iowa Wild.Season SeriesThe teams have played twice this season and the Nailers have defeated the Heartlanders in each, 4-3 (OT) on Oct. 27 and 7-4 Friday.The teams play seven times this season. Following this weekend the clubs don’t play for another two months.HomestandThe Heartlanders are at home on Wednesday, Dec. 1 vs. Wichita, also a 7:00 p.m. puck drop.  Season ticket memberships, group tickets, mini-plans, flex vouchers and single-game tickets are available for the Heartlanders inaugural season by calling 319-569-GOAL and visiting iowaheartlanders.com/tickets.