Landers trending in right direction heading into new week

Coralville, Iowa – The Iowa Heartlanders, proud ECHL affiliate of the Minnesota Wild and Iowa Wild, look to continue last weekend’s momentum into a mid-week home showdown with the Indy Fuel Wednesday at 7:05 p.m.Iowa has points in three of four games (2-1-0-1) and won two of three last week on the road. Wednesday’s game starts a stretch of eight home games over the next month, which includes a season-long seven-game home stand from Feb. 17 – Mar. 1.In Iowa’s last game, the team gave up three in the third period and fell, 5-2, at the Fort Wayne Komets. Before that loss, the Heartlanders swept Wheeling at Wesbanco Arena, outscoring the Nailers, 9-3, in the two games.Indy is first in the Central Division with 60 points (29-14-2-0) and ranks second overall in the conference behind the Mountain Division’s Idaho Steelheads (68 points). Indy is 16-8-1-0 on the road, tied with Idaho and Maine for most road victories in the ECHL.The Heartlanders and Fuel play twice this week; Wednesday at Xtream Arena and Friday at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum.Tickets are available for all Heartlanders 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) | Indy Fuel (Chicago Blackhawks/Rockford IceHogs)Scouting the HeartlandersThe Heartlanders scored 11 goals in three games last weekend, their highest-scoring three-game run since the November. Iowa’s third line of Carson Denomie, Brendan Robbins and Zach White contributed five of the goals.  White had his best week of the season, scoring one goal and four points in three games. Entering the week, White had two assists the entire season and is now up to 12 points (7g) on the season.James Sanchez tops Iowa with 17 assists and 23 points. Eleven of his 23 points have been on the power play.Between the pipes, Hunter Jones has stopped 116 of his last 121 shots faced over his last three games (2-1-0-0 record, 1.67 GAA, .959 save percentage). Darion Hanson blocked 44 shots Sunday at Fort Wayne in his Heartlanders debut, the most saves by an Iowa goaltender ever in their debut and the third-most saves in a game in team history (Trevin Kozlowski, Dec. 4, 2021 with 48 vs. FW | Hunter Jones, Jan. 29, 2023 with 45 vs. FW).Scouting the FuelIndy and Iowa haven’t played since Jan. 11, a 3-1 Fuel victory. Since that game Indy is 6-5-1-0. However, the team has dropped five of their last seven despite scoring 3.4 goals per game over that span.Alex Wideman is best on the team with 34 assists and 48 points. Chad Yetman tops Indy with 19 goals.  The Fuel have had seven skaters reach ten goals this season.Between the pipes, Mitchell Weeks leads the team with a 2.73 goals-against average and .908 save percentage in 15 games. Zach Driscoll is best on the club in wins (16). Cameron Gray earned his first career win against Iowa on Jan. 6 with 31 saves. He is 3-2-0-0 in five games.Upcoming home games and ticket informationView the team’s full promotional schedule at iowaheartlanders.com/promotions. The Heartlanders are back at home Wed., Feb. 8 to play the Indy Fuel at 7:05 p.m.Iowa starts a seven-game home stand on Fri., Feb. 17 at 7:05 p.m. vs. Wheeling. Feb. 17 – Feb. 19 is the start of Iowa’s Cancer Awareness Series, honoring those that have fought, are currently fighting or have battled cancer. Specialty theme jerseys will be worn for the weekend and are available for purchase inclusive of a postgame meet-and-greet on the DASH App. The games against Wheeling are Fri., Feb. 17 at 7:05 p.m., Sat. Feb. 18 at 7:05 p.m. and Sun., Feb. 19 at 2:05 p.m.The Heartlanders continue the home stand Feb. 22, Feb. 24 and Feb. 25 vs. Indy for Iowa’s Diversity Awareness Series, celebrating how sports bring us together. The Heartlanders will demonstrate their commitment to create and environment that fosters inclusion for all. Games take place Wed., Feb. 22 vs. Indy at 7:05 p.m., Fri., Feb. 24 at 7:05 p.m. vs. Kalamazoo and Sat., Feb. 25 at 7:05 p.m. vs. Kalamazoo.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.