Final game of holiday break pits Iowa and Kansas City

Independence, MO – The Iowa Heartlanders, proud ECHL affiliate of the Minnesota Wild and Iowa Wild, play their final game before the ECHL holiday break at the Kansas City Mavericks Friday at 7:05 p.m. This is the second of four straight road games at Kansas City for Iowa: the teams pick it back up after the holiday break Dec. 30 and Dec. 31 at Cable Dahmer Arena.In the first game between the cross-division foes Wednesday, Kansas City received two goals from Jeremy McKenna in a 2-1 win.Because of the four-game road trip, Iowa is next at home Jan. 4 to face the Indy Fuel. At the end of this road stretch, Iowa will have played 17 of the team’s 36 road games with 3.5 months left in the season.Iowa is 1-2-0-0 in the season series.Broadcast Coverage: Watch online at flohockey.tv. Listen on mixlr.com/goheartlanders.Affiliates: Iowa Heartlanders (Minnesota Wild/Iowa Wild) | Kansas City Mavericks (Seattle Kraken/Coachella Valley Firebirds)Last Time OutTyler Busch scored in the third period, but the Iowa Heartlanders fell, 2-1, to the Kansas City Mavericks Wednesday at Cable Dahmer Arena. Hunter Jones made 21 saves and only allowed one goal after the first frame. Shane Starrett won with 16 saves. Iowa has played 11 one-goal games this season in 24 games.Iowa allowed the Kansas City’s only two goals to Jeremy McKenna, who scored the eventual game-winning strike at 6:25 of the third on the power play.Busch replied with a man-up strike at net front, tipping home a rebound five feet from the net at 9:19 of the third. James Sanchez and T.J. Fergus assisted.Season SeriesThe Heartlanders and Mavericks have played three of nine games in the season series and have won once, Nov. 30, by a 5-3 score.Iowa is in the midst of a stretch in which the teams face off in six of ten Landers games. The only break in those head-to-head meetings comes when the Heartlanders take on Indy for four straight Jan. 4-11.Alec Broetzman and Michael Pastujov each have two goals and four points to lead active Landers in the season series.Jeremy McKenna has three goals in the season series to lead all players.All-Time SeriesFriday marks the 13th all-time meeting between Iowa and Kansas City and the Landers are 6-4-2-0 all-time against KC. That includes a 4-0-2-0 mark against the Mavericks at Xtream Arena.Iowa has scored the first goal in seven of 12 all-time meetings and is 5-2-0-0 when netting the game’s opening goal. The Heartlanders have one come-from-behind win in the all-time series, while the Mavericks have overcome deficits in games three times to win.Iowa has fought Kansas City 13 times in the all-time series. Fort Wayne is the only team the Heartlanders have fought more (14 times last season).Happy Holidays, last day before the breakFollowing Friday’s matchup, the Heartlanders and Mavericks will each enjoy a few days to recharge over the holiday break before the “unofficial start” of the ECHL’s second half next week.Iowa is 1-0-0-0 in games played after the break; last season, Trevin Kozlowski blocked 32 shots and Kris Bennett scored the game-winning goal with six minutes to go in a 3-2 victory at Kansas City on Dec. 18, 2021. Iowa attempted ten shots on goal in the game and won, the fewest shots attempted in an ECHL game last season and the fewest in an ECHL victory since January 24, 2018 (10 shots for Jacksonville in a 1-0 win vs. South Carolina).Kansas City is 4-3-0-1 in their ECHL history in games before the holiday break, last winning over Tulsa in December 2018.

Upcoming home games and ticket informationView the team’s full promotional schedule at iowaheartlanders.com/promotions. The Heartlanders are next at home to face the Indy Fuel in a three-game series beginning Wednesday, January 4 at 7:05 p.m. The second game of the three-game set is Friday, January 6 at 7:05 p.m. On Saturday, January 7 at 7:05 p.m., the Heartlanders are embracing camo, hunting & the outdoors on Mossy Oak Night, featuring the first-ever bobblehead giveaway (first 500 fans) and special Mossy Oak jerseys, pres. by DASH Auctions. Wear camo for chance to win in-game prizes and call the Iowa Heartlanders ticket off for a special Camo Hat Ticket Package at 319-569-.Single-game tickets, group ticket options, partial plans and season ticket memberships are available for Heartlanders home games at Xtream Arena.  Call 319-569-or visit iowaheartlanders.com/tickets for more information.