CORALVILLE, Iowa – Jack Berry put together his best start in his brief stint with the Iowa Heartlanders, stopping 23 shots to lead Iowa to a 3-2 victory over the Kansas City Mavericks. Zach White had a goal and an assist for the Heartlanders. Iowa has been on a roll of late, going 4-1-1 in their last six contests.
Iowa took the lead 01:50 into the contest. The Heartlanders won the draw inside Kansas City’s zone back to the point. White moved toward the boards before passing the puck back to Shane Kuzmeski. Kuzmeski fired a wrist shot that Adrien Beraldo redirected past Mavericks netminder Angus Redmond for his third goal of the season.
Less than eight minutes later, White added his second goal of the year to extend the lead to two. With the Heartlanders on the power-play, Kaid Oliver passed the puck to White, who beat Redmond with a wrist shot to make it 2-0. That was the fourth point in the last four games for White.
The Mavericks were down but used the power-play to get themselves back into the game. With a little less than five minutes left in the frame, John Schiavo intercepted a clearing attempt and passed it to Ben Johnson, who redirected in the puck for his fourth goal of the year. That made it 2-1, which would be the score heading to the first intermission.
The Heartlanders clung to the one-goal advantage, but Jack Billings gave his team a little breathing room at 9:54 of the second period. White gained control of the puck along the half-boards, opting to shoot. Redman made the save and looked like he had control of the puck, but it squirted loose from under his glove, allowing Billings to swoop in and knock it in for his sixth goal of the year.
Darik Angeli pulled his team back within one with exactly five minutes left in the period, scoring his ninth goal of the year. With the Mavericks on the power-play again, Marcus Crawford passed the puck to Angeli, who blasted a one-timer by Berry.
The score remained 3-2 coming out of the second intermission, and Berry made it stand in the third, stopping ten shots. The Heartlanders netminder stopped 23 of the 25 shots he faced to earn his first ECHL victory. The Wisconsin graduate moved to 1-1-1 and will likely continue as the No. 1 goaltender with Trevin Kozlowski and Hunter Jones in Des Moines with the Iowa Wild.
Redmond played well for Kansas City, stopping 29 shots.
The Heartlanders (9-13-4) remain at home, welcoming the Tulsa Oilers to town on Wednesday. The puck drops at 7:00.
