Gleason Scores Teddy Bear Toss Goal, but IceHogs Edge Stars

Dec 17, 2021

CEDAR PARK, TX – The Texas Stars, American Hockey League affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars, suffered a 3-1 loss to the Rockford IceHogs Friday at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park.

Seven minutes into the opening frame, Rockford launched a pass from their own zone to Dylan McLaughlin on a breakaway, and he snuck a shot past Anton Khudobin. Just 30 seconds later, on a 3-on-2 rush, Alexander Nylander beat the Stars defense and fired a shot past Khudobin.

Ben Gleason cut the Stars deficit to one with a wrist shot from the right circle that fooled Rockford goaltender Collin Delia. The goal started the Stars’ annual Teddy Bear Toss, as the fans threw stuffed animals on the ice, which will be donated to Operation Blue Santa.

The two teams skated through a scoreless second period, as Khudobin was brilliant for Texas, stopping all 13 Rockford shots. The IceHogs carried their 2-1 lead into the third, as the teams each generated 20 shots through the first 40 minutes.

Khudobin stood tall during two third period penalty kills, stopping five shots on goal. With the extra attacker on in the final minutes, Texas misfired on a centering pass that went all the way down and into the empty net to give the IceHogs a 3-1 win. The goal was credited to Delia, who was the last Rockford player to touch the puck on an earlier save.

Khudobin stopped 29 of 31 shots in his Texas debut, while Delia stopped 24 of 25 in the win.

The Stars look to bounce back tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m. at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park in the last meeting with Rockford this weekend.

Photo Credit: Andy Nietupski

Game Info	Shots	Goaltenders	3 Stars (Xerox Business Solutions Southwest)
Boxscore	TEX: 25	W: Delia (RFD)	1: Dylan McLaughlin (RFD)
Photo	OPP: 32	L: Khudobin (TEX)	2: Ben Gleason (TEX)
Video			3: Alex Nylander (TEX)