Another 3-in-3 comes to close

Fort Wayne, IN – The Iowa Heartlanders, proud ECHL affiliate of the Minnesota Wild and Iowa Wild, finish a busy three-in-three weekend against the Fort Wayne Komets Sunday at 4:00 p.m.

The Heartlanders are in their second straight weekend of three games in three days, while the Komets are in their third straight. 

Iowa is second in the Central Division with a 9-8-3-1 record (22 points). Despite being two points back of Iowa, Fort Wayne is tied for sixth with a 9-8-0-2 record (20 points). Toledo leads the division with 29 points, Iowa is second, then Wheeling, Indy and Cincinnati are tied for third with 21 points. 

Saturday at Kalamazoo, Iowa fought back to gain a point, overcoming a two-goal deficit in a 4-3 overtime loss. Ben Brinkman scored the tying goal with 2:26 to go. 

The K’s visited Indy Saturday and suffered a 3-1 loss. Ture Linden scored Fort Wayne’s lone goal. 

Iowa is next at home for six straight games starting Friday, Dec. 15 against Toledo at 6:35 p.m. On Sat., Dec. 16 at 6:05 p.m., Iowa hosts Toledo for Teddy Bear Toss Night, pres. by DASH Auctions. The Heartlanders will wear specialty holiday jerseys available for auction on the DASH Auctions app. Fans are encouraged to bring Teddy Bears to throw on the ice after Iowa’s first goal, which will be donated to local charitable organizations helping those in need this holiday season. 

On Sun., Dec. 17 at 2:05 p.m., the Heartlanders take on Toledo for Elementary School Day, pres. by MidWestOne Bank. The day also features a postgame skate pres. by The Family Dental Center.

Get tickets for Heartlanders Home games: Iowaheartlanders.com/tickets

Game Day Guide: 
3:55 PM: FloHockey broadcast and audio broadcast starts.
4:10 PM: Puck Drop 
Watch on FloHockey https://flosports.link/3tVsLmd

Listen on Mixlr mixlr.com/goheartlanders

Need to know
- The Heartlanders are playing their tenth straight road game and the team is 3-4-1-1 on the road trip.

- Iowa has played five overtime games and has overcome a deficit to force an extra session four times this season.  

- Iowa has scored at least three goals in four straight games.

Affiliates: Iowa Heartlanders (Minnesota Wild/Iowa Wild) | Fort Wayne Komets (Edmonton Oilers/Bakersfield Condors)

A historic road trip for multiple reasons

The Heartlanders are playing their final game of ten straight on the road, the longest “roadie” in Heartlanders history. The ten-game road trip is also the longest of any ECHL, AHL and NHL team this season. Multiple ECHL teams and AHL teams, have nine-game road trips this season, but Iowa is the only one to play at least ten straight away from their home rink. 

At the end of the trip, Iowa will have played 14 of their first 22 games away from Xtream Arena.

The ten-game trip is part of a stretch where Iowa plays 17 of 23 games on the road.

Last season, Coachella Valley in the AHL played 16 straight road games before their home rink Acrisure Arena opened. Two NHL teams have played 14 straight road games, the 2009-10 Vancouver Canucks (2010 Winter Olympics) and the 2022-23 Arizona Coyotes (new arena).

Lot of games for both teams

The Heartlanders and Komets are each in the midst of busy stretches; Iowa plays 15 games in December and the Komets have played nine over their last 17 days. 

Iowa has seven three-in-threes this season and five are this month, including two straight at home against Toledo Dec. 15-17 and Fort Wayne Dec. 21-23. 

The Komets play 63% of their games as part of three-in-threes this season, with an amazing 15 this season. 

Season series round up

In the first and only matchup of the season series, the Komets edged Iowa in the shootout, 4-3, despite a come-from-behind effort from Iowa that allowed the team to get a point. Davis Koch scored twice and tied the game with six minutes left in the third. He leads Iowa with four multi-goal games. Jake Durflinger also tallied for the Heartlanders. Three Komets scored – Ture Linden, Matthew Wedman and Morgan Adams-Moisan.

The teams play seven times this season. The only three games at Xtream Arena are Dec. 21-23.

Road trip mileage update

The Heartlanders are in the final weekend of the team’s franchise record ten-game road trip. So far, the club is about 2900 miles through an expected 3400-mile journey. After taking on Kalamazoo in the second game of a back-to-back Saturday, the Heartlanders journey take a quick 120-mile sprint south on I-69 for a Sunday showdown at Fort Wayne to complete the road trip.

Next up
The Heartlanders finish the road trip Sun., Dec. 10 at 4:00 p.m. at Fort Wayne. The Heartlanders are home Dec. 15-17 vs. Toledo and Dec. 21-23 vs. Fort Wayne.

Rose Club Memberships & Tickets Now Available For 2023-24 Season
Rose Club Season Ticket Memberships, Partial Plans, Mini-Plans, Flex Tickets and Single-Game Tickets are now available for the 2023-24 season, the Heartlanders’ third in the ECHL. Call 319-569-GOAL or visit iowaheartlanders.com/tickets for more information.