The Rockford IceHogs’ season opener ended unexpectedly when J.T. Brown deflected Nico Sturm’s shot off his chest and into the net with 16 seconds remaining for a 3-2 Iowa Wild win on Friday in Des Moines at Wells Fargo Arena.
Tied 2-2, Sturm fired a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle that Brown deflected off his chest past Kevin Lankinen for the game winner on Jacob Nilsson’s delay of game penalty.
Iowa’s Gabriel Dumount and Gerald Mayhew also scored in Iowa’s three-goal third period.