Saturday Night Hockey pits Landers at home vs. Walleye

Coralville, Iowa – The Iowa Heartlanders, proud ECHL affiliate of the Minnesota Wild and Iowa Wild, return to the ice Saturday at 7:05 p.m. for a rematch with the Toledo Walleye on Faith & Family Night, presented by Pizza Ranch.Iowa and Toledo faced off Friday in the first of three straight and the Walleye won, 6-1.Iowa hosts Toledo one more time on Jan. 22 at 2:05 p.m. Tickets are available for all home games by visiting iowaheartlanders.com/tickets. Find the full promotional schedule at iowaheartlanders.com/promotionsBroadcast Coverage: Watch online at flohockey.tv. Listen on mixlr.com/goheartlanders.Affiliates: Iowa Heartlanders (Minnesota Wild/Iowa Wild) | Toledo Walleye (Detroit Red Wings/Grand Rapids Griffins)Last Time OutThe Heartlanders couldn’t get the offense going and Toledo capitalized with three second-frame goals to beat Iowa, 6-1, Friday. James Sanchez scored his sixth of the season for Iowa’s only goal. After that strike cut it to a 2-1 game, the Walleye scored the next four goals.John Lethemon won with 27 saves. Riley McCourt scored twice.Heartlanders finally get a few weeks at home For the first time this regular season, the Heartlanders are enjoying back-to-back weeks of home games. Every other week of the regular season, the Landers have gotten on a bus for a road weekend a few days after completing a Staybridge Suites Home Stand.The Landers face two of the league's traditional power houses in Toledo and Fort Wayne over this home stand; Toledo has made the playoffs six straight seasons and Fort Wayne has done so eight times in a row, missing the Kelly Cup Playoffs just once in their ECHL history (2012-13).Toledo Pre-Scout The Walleye have played their best hockey since the holiday season began, going 13-6-4-0 since Dec. 1. Before the recent uptick, Toledo slumped to a 5-8-0-0 mark in their first 13 games, their worst start in October-November since 2013-14.Toledo's leading returning goal scorer Brandon Hawkins has 12 goals this season. Last year, he and Heartlanders Captain Kris Bennett were tied for an ECHL-best 35 goals; Bennett became the first rookie in three decades to hold at least a share of the ECHL goals lead (Darren Coulbourne, Dayton, 1991-92).Head Coach Dan Watson is back for his sixth season behind the bench; he succeeded Derek Lalonde as Toledo Head Coach in 2016-17; Lalonde is, coincidentally, now the Head Coach of Toledo's parent club the Detroit Red Wings.Saturday nights at Xtream The Heartlanders will play their fifth Saturday home game of the season at 7:05 p.m. The Landers have ripped off three straight Saturday wins and 3-1-0-0 on the season. Iowa has won two of those games in overtime – Nov. 26 vs. Cincinnati and Dec. 17 vs. Kalamazoo.For the season, Iowa has at least a point in seven of ten Saturday games (3-3-4-0 record).Reliable in the second period The Heartlanders have scored at least one goal in the second period in five of their last six games, continuing to prove the second frame is their most reliable. Earlier this season from Nov. 4 – Dec. 14, Iowa scored at least one second-period goal in 16 straight games.Iowa has scored 38 times in the second frame this season and has at least one goal in 26 middle periods.Upcoming home games and ticket informationView the team’s full promotional schedule at iowaheartlanders.com/promotions. The Heartlanders are at home on Sunday, January 22 at 2:05 p.m. for Dash’s Birthday Party presented by Steindler Orthopedic Clinic and Star Wars Day; we’ll have local mascots around Xtream Arena to celebrate our Mascot Dash is style with fun birthday activities. It’s also a Fanbango Giveaway to all fans in attendance, courtesy of Steindler.Single-game tickets, group ticket options, partial plans and season ticket memberships are available for Heartlanders home games at Xtream Arena.  Call 319-569-GOAL or visit iowaheartlanders.com/tickets for more information.