A great night in Iowa by all accounts. 14,282 packed the Wells Fargo Arena to watch the Wild take on the Blues in the first ever NHL contest played in the Hawkeye State.

We all know what a great game hockey is but it is especially great to see the turnout for preseason NHL hockey in the smaller markets that otherwise would have to travel hundreds of miles to see the best un the World compete. Hockey is alive and well in the great state of Iowa, as well as many other non traditional hockey markets all across the country.

Although the Wild dropped their second straight preseason title by a 3-2 margin there were more bright spots coming out of the game for many of the players looking to make their mark.

Matt Read, seeing his first game action played on a line with Eric Fehr and Marcus Foligno, who Boudreau commented that he liked their play. That line generated the Wild first goal with Read delivering a nice pass to Brennan Manell's powerplay goal in the first period.

Justin Kloos was credited with the Wild's second goal as Matt Dumba's wrist shot deflected in off his backside. Ironic, of course since Kloos led the Wild with 9 shots on goal, Monday night in Winnipef, but could not get one to find the back of the net.

Mason Shaw made his long awaited Wild debut after he suffered a torn ACL at last season's Traverse City prospects tournament.

A couple of veteran miscues led to two late third period goals by Tyler Bozak which turned a Wild 2-1 lead into a Blues 3-2 victory.

Tonight the Wild are home at the Xcel Energy Center to host the Stars. It is expected that Zach Parise, Mikko Koivu, Jared Spurgeon, Nate Prosser and Devan Dubnyk will make their preseason debuts tonight in St. Paul.

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