Stars Offense Halted in 4-1 Loss to Wild
Feb 6, 2021DES MOINES, Iowa – The Texas Stars, American Hockey League affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars, fell to the Iowa Wild tonight 4-1 in the second game of a three-game weekend. The final game of the series is Monday at Wells Fargo Arena before Texas returns home to H-E-B Center for their home opener on Friday, Feb. 12, 2020.
After taking an 8-4 victory on Friday night, the Wild held Texas at bay and capitalized on some key turnovers. Early in the game Brandon Duhaime intercepted the Stars breakout and Dmitry Sokolov stepped up to take the puck in the high slot before going off the left post and in with his shot. It was the second straight game that Sokolov opened the scoring for Iowa, recording the goal five minutes into the game.
Texas responded later in the period as Colin Markison fended off an Iowa skater in the offensive zone. While circling the zone, he fed a pass from the right corner across the top of the crease to the left circle. Tye Felhaber was waiting there, staring at an empty net and deposited his first goal of the season to even the score. The tally came with a little more than two minutes left in the first period.
Outshooting the Wild 12-3 in the second period, Texas spent much of their time in the offensive zone. However, the eventual game winning goal came on an odd deflection late in the middle frame. Ian McCoshen sent a shot near the net from the left point and waiting at the left post was rookie Josh Maser who made his professional debut tonight. The rubber hit him in the chest before redirecting into the net behind Sholl.
At the start of the third period, Iowa again capitalized on a turnover in the offensive zone. Less than a minute into the final period, Tyler Sheehy picked off a pass and slid the puck to Gabriel Dumont who was waiting at the top of the crease. A quick move to the backhand slipped past Sholl to give the wild some insurance.
Late in the game, Texas was given a power play opportunity and pulled Sholl for the extra attacker but failed to get through the Wild defense. Iowa turned their blocked shots out to neutral ice, where Connor Dewar collected the loose puck and tossed it into an empty net.
Special teams were held off the scoreboard with Iowa failing on three chances and Texas failing on five chances. Sholl ended the night with 17 saves in his AHL debut while his counterpart Dereck Baribeau earned his first win of the season with 21 stops.
Texas and Iowa drop the puck at 7 p.m. on Monday night in Des Moines, Iowa to wrap up their series. The Stars’ home opener is Friday against the San Jose Barracuda at 7 p.m.
Photo Credit: Shane Abbitt, Iowa Wild
| Game Info | Shots | Goaltenders | 3 Stars (Xerox Business Solutions Southwest) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boxscore | TEX: 20 | W: Dereck Baribeau (IA) | 1: Josh Maser (IA) |
| Photo | OPP: 21 | L: Tomas Sholl (TEX) | 2: Dmitry Sokolov (IA) |
| Video | 3: Ian McCoshen (IA) |
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