Iowa Wild Rally for Five Unanswered Goals to Sweep Manitoba Moose

Iowa erased an early deficit and scored five unanswered goals to beat the Manitoba Moose 5-1 at Canada Life Centre on Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, completing a two-game sweep after a 3-2 overtime win the night before. Tyler Pitlick led the charge with two goals, and the Wild stretched the lead to comfortable margins before the second intermission.

Manitoba opened the scoring 1:32 into the game when Kale Clague's shot from the top of the right circle dipped under the glove of Cal Petersen; Petersen finished with 21 saves. Iowa answered at 5:04 when Tyler Pitlick tied it with a wrister from the high slot, set up by assists from Dylan Gambrell and Carson Lambos. Pitlick struck again at 12:57 after Gambrell sent a centering feed intended for Hunter Haight; Pitlick corralled a loose puck behind the net and tucked a wraparound behind Domenic DiVincentiis, who made 30 saves.

Nicolas Aubé-Kubel pushed Iowa to a two-goal lead at 18:39 of the first period, scoring on a breakaway with assists from David Jiricek and Ben Jones. Manitoba outshot Iowa 10-7 in the opening 20 minutes, but could not convert beyond Clague's early strike.

Iowa put the game out of reach in the middle frame. Riley Heidt collected a pass from Aubé-Kubel and slid a backhand under DiVincentiis 11:13 into the second period (game clock 31:13). Jack Peart finished the scoring at 35:29 of game clock time to make it 5-1; the Wild's five unanswered goals were the only scoring after Clague's opening tally.

The result completed Iowa's two-game sweep of the Moose after a 3-2 overtime victory the previous night, when Carson Lambos finished the game in extra time following an Isaak Phillips tying goal and a multi-point performance from Danny Zhilkin. That night also featured two assists from Jaret Anderson-Dolan in the Wild's comeback effort.

Roster and schedule notes cut through the aftermath. Minnesota recalled forward Hunter Haight from the Iowa Wild, and earlier in the season Iowa signed Dylan Gambrell to a one-year, one-way AHL contract for the remainder of 2025-26. Manitoba will next face the Grand Rapids Griffins on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, while Iowa heads to Milwaukee to play the Admirals on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026.