Game 18 Preview: Iowa at Fort Wayne

Heartlanders visit defending champs for back to back

Fort Wayne, IN – The Iowa Heartlanders (4-10-2-1, 11 pts.) begin a back-to-back at the first-place Fort Wayne Komets (9-5-2-0, 20 pts.) Friday at 7:00 p.m. CT. The Komets are 5-1-1-0 at home and the Heartlanders are the only team to hand Fort Wayne a regulation loss on home ice this campaign.The Heartlanders are nine points back of Fort Wayne and Toledo for first in the Central Division.Iowa is on the road Friday and Saturday at Fort Wayne before returning home for three games next week; a huge promotional weekend Dec. 8, Dec. 10 and Dec. 11 that includes the team’s first-ever Teddy Bear Toss on Friday, Dec. 10. All bears thrown on the ice after the Heartlanders first goal will be donated to those in need this holiday season. Broadcast Coverage: Listen at Iowaheartlanders.com/listenlive or mixlr.com/goheartlanders. Watch on FloHockey.tv. NHL Affiliates: Iowa Heartlanders (Minnesota Wild/Iowa Wild) | Fort Wayne Komets (Vegas Golden Knights/Henderson Silver Knights)Last Time OutFor the second straight game, the Landers received goals from Yuki Miura and Kris Bennett; their strikes helped the Landers come from behind to force a shootout vs. Wichita in a 3-2 skills competition defeat Wednesday at Xtream Arena. Miura and Bennett are each riding career-best points streaks; Bennett’s is at ten games and Miura has points in six straight. Their centerman Bryce Misley has points in four of five games and leads the league with five power-play goals.Trevin Kozlowski was brilliant in regulation and overtime, denying 36 shots. He is expected to get the start Friday with Hunter Jones reassigned to the AHL’s Iowa Wild.Iowa leaders Bennett has risen to the league’s top ten in points (21) in 12 games. He paces league rookies with ten goals and is the first Heartlanders player ever to reach ten goals in a season.Entering the weekend, his nine power-play points are tied for tops in the league. Iowa’s man up has scored 12 times this season and Bennett has factored in with at least a point in nine of those strikes. Scouting the KometsSince meeting the Landers Nov. 21, Fort Wayne has gone 1-2-1-0 but maintained their first-place positioning. In a 4-1 loss Wednesday at Indy, Jiri Patera blocked 25 of 28 shots.Patera (6 GP) and Sam Harvey (8 GP) have nearly split the cage evenly; Harvey has allowed 11 goals in six games (1.80 GAA, .947 sv. %).Connor Jones has nine assists and 12 points to lead the K’s.Season SeriesIowa’s only matchup against Fort Wayne was one of the team’s most-complete efforts of the season, a 5-1 thumping with contributions all over the lineup. Yuki Miura, Ben Sokay and Adrien Beraldo scored their first professional goals, Kris Bennett had three points and Hunter Jones made 31 saves in victory. Fort Wayne’s lone strike came from Will Graber at 18:28 of the first.Iowa scored the first three goals before Fort Wayne’s lone tally.