Stars Drop Shootout Decision to Wild

Oct 11, 2019

DES MOINES, Iowa – The Texas Stars, American Hockey League affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars, surrendered a late goal to the Iowa Wild to force overtime and later fell in the shootout 5-4. The Stars held the lead on four separate occasions tonight at Wells Fargo Arena, thanks in part to a Denis Gurianov hat trick during the second period. Gerald Mayhew’s late third-period goal with the net empty helped the Wild earn their third win of the year.

 

Texas would open the scoring with a 5-on-3 power play goal. The club’s first goal on the man advantage came from Michael Mersch with eight minutes remaining in the first period as he battled for a rebound in front of the net. Texas would get three more power play opportunities but finished the game 1-for-4. Mersch’s goal was all that stood on the board through 20 minutes of play.

 

After the intermission, the goals began to pour out. The teams traded tallies, scoring a combined six goals across 12 minutes of play. Will Bitten started the rush for the Wild, scoring off a turnover less than four minutes into the middle period. Gurianov took over 22 seconds later and responded with a deflection that beat Kaapo Kahkonen in net.

 

Three minutes after that, Niko Sturm notched his first pro goal from the blue line. The long blast from the left point came on the power play and helped Iowa to a 1-for-6 finish on the man advantage. Less than three minutes after that, at 9:53, the Russian forward for Texas sent home his second goal of the period. After striking the crossbar, Tanner Kero and Jason Robertson helped set up Gurianov for a one-timer in the right circle. He ripped it to the top corner to make it 3-2 Texas. Kero finished the night with three assists, tying a career-best.

 

With seven and a half minutes left in the period, the Wild grabbed a garbage goal by crashing the net. The puck caromed off of Mike Liambas and into the net to tie the game. The Stars skated to the intermission with the lead though as Gurianov net his third goal of the period. After stealing the puck at the blue line, he raced down the ice on a 2-on-1. The Wild netminder stopped a first shot, but he followed up the opportunity by backhanding the rebound past Kahkonen with five minutes left in the second period.

 

Goaltender Jake Oettinger faced an onslaught of shots from the Wild in the period and finished his night with 34 saves on 38 shots. Kahkonen ended his night with 26 saves for his third win of the year.

 

Desperate to tie the game, the Wild pulled Kahkonen from the crease for an extra skater with a minute and a half left in the game. Thirty seconds into the advantage, Mayhew collected a loose puck in the slot and hammered it into the net for his third goal of the year and forcing overtime.

 

In overtime, the Stars needed a big penalty kill to hold on. After catching a stick in his face, Dillon Heatherington came back on the play with a bloodied lip and would eventually get called for high sticking himself. Defenseman Gavin Bayreuther and Reece Scarlett held down the fort for almost the entire two-minute penalty and kept the Stars alive into the shootout.

 

Gurianov put the Stars on the board in the shootout, but Kero and Robertson came up empty while Mayhew and Sam Anas tallied goals. It is just the second time the Stars have fallen to the Wild in the last nine meetings with both coming in a shootout at Wells Fargo Arena.

 

The Texas Stars face the Wild again tomorrow night, Saturday, Oct 12 at 7 p.m. in Des Moines, IA to end the weekend series on the road.

 

Photo Credit: Iowa Wild

 

Game Info	Shots	Goaltenders	3 Stars (Xerox Business Solutions Southwest)
Boxscore	TEX: 30	W: Kaapo Kahkonen (IA)	1: Gerald Mayhew (IA)
Photo	IA: 39	SOL: Jake Oettinger (TEX)	2: Denis Gurianov (TEX)
Video			3: Nico Sturm (IA)