Heartlanders make Saturday visit to Toledo

Coralville, Iowa – The Iowa Heartlanders, proud ECHL affiliate of the Minnesota Wild and Iowa Wild, seek their first season-series win at the Toledo Walleye Saturday at 6:15 p.m. The Heartlanders are playing their third game of the week, part of a 4-games-in-5-days stretch in 4 cities.Friday at Cincinnati, James Sanchez scored in a 4-1 loss. Hunter Jones made 34 saves. Iowa has at least a point in six of eight games (3-2-3-0).The Walleye are 34-15-2-0, good for 74 points (second in points percentage in the Central Division). The team has won 11 straight, the longest winning streak of any team in the ECHL this season and the Walleye’s longest winning streak ever. Their 13-game points streak is also longest in the ECHL. After starting 7-10-1-1 through 19 games, the Walleye have at least a point in 31 of 36 games (27-5-3-1). In the 2023 calendar year, Toledo is 22-3-1-0. Their last regulation defeat came Jan. 29 at Cincinnati. Toledo has at least a point in 15 straight road games (every road game since Dec. 28).While Iowa has played two games in two cities already this week, the Walleye have been off since a Wednesday win at Fort Wayne, 5-3. The Fish enjoyed a Friday off for the first time since October.Iowa completes a three-in-three at Fort Wayne Sunday at 4:00 p.m.Broadcast 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)Season SeriesThe Heartlanders are looking for their first win of the season against Toledo. The Walleye have scored first in each one of the opening four battles and scored at least five goals in each game. Last season, Iowa beat Toledo for the first time in the sixth game of the season series, then proceeded to win three of the final four games.The teams last played Feb. 11 at Toledo, a 6-0 win. Sabastian Cossa earned his first two professional shutouts against Iowa, making 23 saves Jan. 21 and 26 saves on Feb. 11.Bo Hanson and James Sanchez have Iowa’s goals in the series. 12 Walleye players have scored at least one goal in the series.The teams play twice this month to wrap up the season series: Saturday and on Mar. 31. The Heartlanders have three wins ever against Toledo, the last of which came in Feb. 2022.Lot of points on SaturdaysThe Heartlanders have earned at least a point on back-to-back Saturday games and the club now has points in 11 of 17 Saturday contests this season (5-6-6-0). Since Feb. 1, Iowa is 2-1-1-0 on Saturdays, with the team’s lone regulation loss coming the last time Iowa and Toledo met on Feb 11.Scouting the HeartlandersIowa's top scorer James Sanchez has led the charge with 33 points (11g). Sanchez has tallied six power-play goals and nine power-play assists.Michael Pastujov (26 points) and Tommy Parrottino (25) follow closely behind. Parrottino has also shown his goal-scoring prowess, netting a team-best 15 goals this season.On the defensive end, Nolan Orzeck has been contributing to the Heartlanders' offensive efforts with 22 points.Upcoming home games and ticket informationView the team’s full promotional schedule at iowaheartlanders.com/promotions. Iowa is next at home for three games on Mar. 8 at 7:05 p.m. vs. Cincinnati, Mar. 10 at 7:05 p.m. vs. Indy and Mar. 11 at 7:05 p.m. vs. Kalamazoo. March 10 is Iowa’s Marvel Super Hero Night where the team will wear special Captain American jerseys vs. Indy, presented by DASH Auctions. It’s also Special Olympics Night where Special Olympics Iowa will be at the game.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.Tickets are available for all Heartlanders home games by visiting iowaheartlanders.com/tickets. Find the full promotional schedule at iowaheartlanders.com/promotions