Stars Blanked by Wild in Season Opener

Oct 16, 2021

CEDAR PARK, Texas – The Texas Stars, American Hockey League Affiliate of the NHL's Dallas Stars, fell to the Iowa Wild in their season opener 2-0. Wild goaltender Andrew Hammond earned his first shutout since Dec. 14, 2019.

 

The two teams shook off the cobwebs in the opening period and got up and down the ice in a scoreless first frame. The Stars were unable to grab a power play goal despite a 5-on-3 chance and Iowa closed out the period with their first power play of the year as well. Texas capitalized in the face-off circle in the first winning 14 of 17 draws but it didn’t translate to the opening goal.

 

In the second period, the Stars generated another chance on a 5-on-3 but came up empty. In total the Stars were 0-for-7 on the power play which included a pair of 5-on-3’s and a late 5-on-3 chance with the goaltender pulled. Iowa finished the game 0-for-2 on the man advantage as well.

 

The Wild opened the scoring in the second period on a small rebound in front of the net cost Texas. Kyle Rau scored his first of the year by crashing the net after Turner Ottenbreit launched a shot from the top of the zone. Jake Oettinger stopped the first chance, but Rau was quick to pounce on the rebound chance.

 

Oettinger finished the night with 32 saves and allowed one goal on his return to H-E-B Center at Cedar Park for the first time since the 2019-20 season. At the opposite end, Hammond out dueled him and stopped all 27 shots for a shutout.

 

Connor Dewar tapped in an empty net goal to ice the game in the final minute as the Stars pushed to try and tie the score. Texas and Iowa will meet again tomorrow night at 5 p.m. for their final meeting of the weekend and their last matchup until February.

Photo Credit: Ross Bonander

 

Game Info	Shots	Goaltenders	3 Stars (Xerox Business Solutions Southwest)
Boxscore	TEX: 27	W: Andrew Hammond (IA)	1: Andrew Hammond (IA)
Photo	IA: 34	L: Jake Oettinger (TEX)	2: Kyle Rau (IA)
Video			3: Connor Dewar (IA)