Iowa Wild Rally Past Chicago Wolves 6-4, Gambrell Nets Hat Trick

The Iowa Wild scored four unanswered goals in the third period to rally past the Chicago Wolves 6-4 at Allstate Arena on Sunday night. It was the kind of comeback that ends winning streaks: Evan Vierling had a goal and two assists, Charles Alexis Legault a goal and an assist, and Ryan Suzuki and Ronan Seeley each scored, but the Wolves couldn't stop Iowa from posting the come-from-behind victory.

Dylan Gambrell posted a hat trick and collected his own rebound to beat Amir Miftakhov just 3:43 into the game to give Iowa a 1-0 lead. Chicago responded immediately. Ryan Suzuki snuck a wrister between Cal Petersen and the near post at 4:18 to tie the game, and Ronan Seeley beat Petersen through a screen on the power play at 17:17 to put the Wolves ahead before the period was out.

The first period ended with an unexpected twist. Petersen was tossed from the game for spearing Wolves forward Noel Gunler, handed a major penalty and a game misconduct that ended his night. William Rousseau replaced Petersen in the Wild net for the remainder of the game.

Chicago used the momentum from the penalty to extend its lead in the second. Vierling found the back of the net on the power play 3:58 into the middle frame to push Chicago's lead to 3-1. Nicolas Aubé-Kubel set up Gambrell at the top of the crease at 9:36 to pull the Wild back within a goal, but Charles Alexis Legault deflected a centering feed from Nikita Pavlychev over Rousseau at 12:09 to restore a two-goal cushion for the Wolves. The second period ended with a 4-2 lead for Chicago.

Then Iowa took over. Rasmus Kumpulainen scored his first AHL goal 3:56 into the third period, tipping Roman Schmidt's point shot under Miftakhov. Schmidt and Kumpulainen then combined to set up Caedan Bankier for a game-tying wrister past the glove of Miftakhov at 9:52. Aubé-Kubel redirected Spacek's point shot on goal and Riley Heidt buried the rebound to give Iowa the lead for good with 6:45 remaining.

Gambrell sealed it. He completed the hat trick at 16:43 of the third when Jean-Luc Foudy sent the puck off the wall and Gerry Mayhew threw a spinning backhand feed that Gambrell deflected inside the far post. Aubé-Kubel finished with three assists on the night.

Amir Miftakhov stopped 18 shots and took the loss for Chicago, while Rousseau made 20 saves to earn the win for Iowa. The Wolves dropped to 29-19-6-6 on the season, while Iowa improved to 22-31-5-1. The two teams meet again Wednesday, March 25 at 7 p.m. CST, this time in Iowa.