DES MOINES, Iowa - With nothing left to play for by pride, the Iowa Wild showed up early in a very physical battle with the Rockford IceHogs (Chicago) in a night of some significant debuts and minutes for both sides of the ice. There were some flashes of brilliance as the Wild had shown all season, but the size and experience of Rockford proved too much in the loss.
Niklas Svedberg (18-18-7; 2.87 GAA/.905 SV%) got another start for the Wild and C.J. Motte provided the back-up role as Steve Michalek missed his second straight game with an illness.