Kero Sends Stars Past Wild in Overtime

Jan 30, 2023

CEDAR PARK, Texas – The Texas Stars, American Hockey League affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars, defeated the Iowa Wild 5-4 in overtime thanks to a goal 30 seconds into the extra session by Tanner Kero Monday night at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park.

 

The Wild cracked the score column first when Mike O’Leary chipped in a rebound over Anton Khudobin’s left shoulder 8:12 into the opening period. Sammy Walker made it 2-0 Wild at the 10:17 mark when his shot from the right dot trickled in behind Khudobin on the power play. Marian Studenic scored the first goal for Texas to cut Iowa’s lead in half when he beat Zane McIntyre unassisted between the legs with 1:56 remaining in the first. The Wild extended their lead back to a pair when Nic Petan beat Khudobin with 32 seconds left in the period.

 

Texas overcame the two goal deficit and then some during the second period, scoring three times to claim a 4-3 lead. Kero fired in the first goal off a rebound 21 seconds in to shrink Iowa’s lead to 3-2. Matej Blumel buried the next two goals for the Stars. His first came 12 seconds into a power play at 11:18 and followed up a beautiful passing sequence by Jacob Peterson and Studenic. He then scored a go-ahead marker at 16:38 on the power play when he potted a rebound shot by Kero. The Stars overtook a 22-19 lead in shots on goal after outshooting the Wild 12-8 in period two.

 

The third period saw Walker score again 55 seconds in to tie the game 4-4, which eventually forced a need for overtime in Cedar Park. Kero called game 30 seconds into the extra session. His second goal and third point of the night put Texas back in the win column with a 5-4 overtime victory.

 

Picking up the win in goal to improve to 13-3-4 this season, Khudobin turned aside 20 of the 24 shots he saw. Between the pipes for the Wild, McIntyre made 26 saves on 31 shots.

 

The Stars and Wild go head-to-head in the two-game series finale Wednesday with a 7:00 p.m. face-off back at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park.

 

Photo Credit: Andy Nietupski / Texas Stars

 

Game Info	Shots	Goaltenders	3 Stars (Ubeo Business Services)
Boxscore	TEX: 31	W: Khudobin (TEX)	1: Kero (TEX)
Photo	IA: 24	L: McIntyre (IA)	2: Blumel (TEX)
Video			3: Walker (IA)