Game 43 Preview: Iowa at Toledo

Final season-series matchup at Walleye

Toledo, OH - The Iowa Heartlanders (15-21-5-1, 36 pts.) continue a road weekend at the Toledo Walleye (27-9-0-2, 56 pts.) Friday at 6:15 p.m. Following tonight’s game, Iowa will have 13 games left on the road this season.Wednesday in Cincinnati, Kris Bennett (1g, 1a) and Ryan Kuffner (2a) each had multi-point efforts in a 6-3 defeat.Toledo visited Indy on Wednesday and beat the Fuel, 6-3. Randy Gazzola and Brandon Schultz each scored twice.The Heartlanders’ are home for four straight games following this weekend swing. The games include a pair of College Nights, plus Faith & Family Night on Feb. 11 and Pink in the Rink Night Feb. 12. Tavern Blue Fore Packs are available for all home games this season, which includes four tickets, four hot dogs, four sodas, VIP Parking and discounts from Tavern Blue restaurant. Tickets for the game are also available by calling 319-569-PUCK.Broadcast Coverage: Listen at Iowaheartlanders.com/listenlive or mixlr.com/goheartlanders. Watch on FloHockey.tv.NHL Affiliates: Iowa Heartlanders (Minnesota Wild/Iowa Wild) | Toledo Walleye (Detroit Red Wings/Grand Rapids Griffins)Last Time OutThe Iowa Heartlanders tied the game twice, but the Cincinnati Cyclones quickly responded each time to stay ahead of the Landers in a 6-3 ‘Clones victory Wednesday at Heritage Bank Center.Kris Bennett tied the game at two midway through the second, but the Cyclones regained the lead 29 seconds later on a strike from Jesse Schultz. In the third following a Billy Constantinou goal, Cincy again needed less than a minute (34 seconds) to strike and take the lead for good.Season Series Friday marks the 9th and final meeting between the “deer” and the “fish” this season; Iowa has taken two of the last three meetings. Toledo won the first five games of the series.In the last game, Iowa forced the Walleye to sweat it out to the end, making it a one-goal came twice before the final buzzer in a 4-3 defeat. Riese Zmolek, Zach White and Kaid Oliver scored and Corbin Kaczperski blocked 37 shots.Yuki Miura and Joe Widmar top Iowa with four season-series points. Cole Golka has found the net three times vs. Toledo this season, best on Iowa. TJ Hensick leads all players in the series with 13 points (2g). John Albert and Marcus Vela have scored seven goals against the Heartlanders, tied for the season-series lead.Iowa has five power-play goals on 26 chances against Toledo (19.2%). Toledo is clipping at 22% (6-for-27) in the series.Scouting Toledo Toledo is 13-3-0-1 this season in The Glass City, which included a stretch where the Walleye had points in 12 straight home contests (12-0-1-0). Wheeling snapped that home dominance stretch with a 7-2 win at Huntington Center last week.The winning nature at home extends to the team’s power play; Toledo scores on 26.6% of man-up chances at Huntington Center (17-for-52), compared to 14% of the time away.The Fish have a +24 goal differential on home ice this season.Keeping it “one” The Heartlanders have played 18 one-goal games this season, trailing Fort Wayne for most in the ECHL (20) to start the week. Fifteen of those 1-goal contests have come in the last two months, a fantastic stretch of close games that began at Fort Wayne Dec. 4 in a win over the Komets, 2-1. Iowa is 8-4-3 in those fifteen games decided by one.What’s NextThe Heartlanders have one more game on the road at Wheeling Saturday at 6:10 p.m., then come home for four straight at Xtream Arena. All contests can be heard on iowaheartlanders.com/listenlive, mixlr.com/goheartlanders and at flohockey.tv.Upcoming Home GamesWednesday, February  9th at 7:00 p.m. vs. Utah – College NightFriday, February 11th at 7:00 p.m. vs. Utah – Faith & Family NightSaturday, February 12th at 7:00 p.m. vs. Utah – Pink in the Rink NIghtThe Heartlanders 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.