Heartlanders survive whirlwind, 3-hour game for shootout win, 5-4

Toledo, OH – The Iowa Heartlanders survived a ferocious, four-goal comeback by the Toledo Walleye to win, 5-4, in the shootout Sunday at Huntington Center. Odeen Tufto and Davis Koch scored in the shootout for Iowa and Peyton Jones stopped both Toledo attempts in the skills competition.  

Iowa scored the first four goals of the game in the opening 30 minutes. Toledo then scored four goals to tie and force overtime; two in the second and two in the third.  

Jones blocked 38 shots in the win and Jan Bednar blocked 32 for Toledo.

Davis Koch (2g) scored the opening goal on a slap shot from the top of the left-wing circle at 5:02 of the first. Koch waited patiently with a puck battle happening behind the net, then took a feed from Louis Boudon and cranked it in. Jake Durflinger received the secondary helper. 

Iowa potted three times in the opening half of the second period, including a pair of power-play goals, to take a 4-0 lead halfway through the game. David Spacek scored his first goal on a one-timed slap shot from the left circle, assisted by Robbie Stucker and Brett Budgell, at :42 of the second. A few shifts later, Koch bagged his second of the game at 3:48, slamming in a bouncing puck at the right post.

Brett Budgell scored Iowa’s fourth goal at 8:58 of the second, crafting a flipping puck over the shoulder of the goaltender at the slot. 

Toledo scored twice at 4-on-4 and a power-play goal 1:20 apart to make it 4-2 at the end of the second. Sam Craggs (2g) and Brandon Kruse tallied in the third to even the game at four and force overtime. 

Iowa went 2-for-7 on the power play. Toledo went 3-for-5. Toledo did not score a goal at five-on-five. 

The game took 2:53, the second-longest game in franchise history.

Box Score 

Next Friday and Saturday, the Heartlanders visit Kalamazoo for 6:00 p.m. puck drops. On Sun., Dec. 10, Iowa and Fort Wayne square off for the second time this season, ending Iowa’s franchise-record ten-game road trip.

Iowa is next at home Dec. 15-17 vs. Toledo, which includes the annual Teddy Bear Toss game on Sat., Dec. 16 at 6:05 p.m.

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.