Gone Puck Wild
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Iowa Wild Beat Texas In OT

By Dustin Nelson

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The Iowa Wild started a road back-to-back in Cedar Park against the reigning Calder Cup champion Texas Stars on Friday night. It was a hard-fought game for Iowa, that saw the Stars outshoot the Wild 35-15 in regulation.

Iowa continues to give the work in net to John Curry and he didn’t disappoint, stopping 34 of those 35 shots in regulation.

The first period was the only period where the Wild hung with the Stars, only being outshot 6-5. But the Wild managed to come out of the first period with the lead following another goal from rookie Olivier Archambault, who has three goals and three assists in ten games since his most recent call-up.

The assist on Archambault’s goal went to newcomer Jared Knight, who came over at the trade deadline in a deal with the Boston Bruins that sent first round draft pick Zack Phillips to the Providence Bruins.

Here’s a look at Archambault’s goal.

That lead held until there was just 4:15 left in the third period. The Stars’ Derek Hulak put one past Curry, sending the game to overtime.

However, the extra frame didn’t last long. Tyler Graovac scored just 16 seconds into overtime on the first shot of the period. It was Graovac’s team-leading 19th goal of the year with an assist going to Jonathon Blum.

Here’s a look at the game-winner:

That goal is Graovac’s second overtime winner of the season and makes him the first player in Iowa Wild history to hit 40 points in a season.

He put it past Stars goaltender Jussi Rynnas, one of three goaltenders on one-way deals at the start of the season for the Stars.

Rynnas has shown flashes of solid play, but wasn’t able to make a stint at the NHL level work while the NHL club gave him the chance to replace Anders Lindback, who was eventually traded to Buffalo (with a draft pick) for Jhonas Enroth.

That gives the Wild three straight wins after sweeping the Lake Eerie Monsters last weekend. The Wild remain in last place in the AHL with a record of 21-37-1-1. They are six points back of the Charlotte Checkers to pass off the title worst in the league.

Next: Can Devan Dubnyk Win the Vezina Trophy?

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