Stars Shine in Lopsided 7-3 Victory over Wild

Nov 26, 2019

CEDAR PARK, Texas – The Texas Stars, American Hockey League affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars, dazzled in a 7-3 victory over the Iowa Wild in their first trip to the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park this year. The victory marks Texas’ seventh consecutive home victory over the Wild, dating back to 2017.

 

Texas opened scoring only two minutes into what would prove to be a busy first period. Joel Kiviranta got the play started as he snuck the puck out of the defensive zone and handed it over to Emil Djuse as he crossed the blue line. The defenseman then passed it to Michael Mersch, who fired a quick shot past goaltender Mat Robson. Moments later, Joel L’Esperance set up another goal as he carried the puck into the zone along the boards and made a cross-ice pass to Anthony Louis, who took his shot at Robson. The puck hit Tanner Kero then trickled through the legs of the Wild netminder and Louis cleaned up the shot from behind Robson for his first goal as a Star. 

 

Midway through the period, Iowa got on the board thanks to a shot from the point by Brennan Menell. Gerald Mayhew swiftly redirected the initial shot for his first goal of the game. Shortly thereafter, the Stars got the goal back as Djuse took a shot from the point that bounced off the goalie’s pads. Jason Robertson got ahold of the rebound and sent the puck to Rhett Gardner. The forward then danced around Robson and took a shot over his left shoulder, going bar down for the Stars third goal. Less than one minute later, L’Esperance added another on a solo effort. L’Esperance sent a shot toward the net that was blocked by an Iowa defenseman, but after regaining control of the puck, he sent a goal through the legs of Robson to increase the Stars lead to 4-1. With six minutes until the intermission, Mayhew net his second of the game to bring the visiting team within two. 

 

It took Texas only five minutes to tack on another goal to begin the second period. As the team worked in the offensive zone, Dillon Heatherington blasted a shot on goal from the blue line that found its way onto the stick of Joel Kiviranta. From there, Kiviranta increased the lead to 5-2 with a backhanded that flew through Robson’s legs. 

 

Iowa opened the third with a goal scored by Brandon Duhaime from the left circle. However, Texas countered just seconds later to maintain their three-goal lead. Gardner took a shot in front of the net that bounced off Robson’s pad and Nick Caamano grabbed the puck, going left to right around the Wild netminder to tuck a goal into a wide-open net.  Just six minutes after his first goal, Caamano added another tally to cap scoring on a 7-3 victory. Caamano faced Robson one-on-one thanks to a breakaway and went five-hole on the goalie to score his second of the night. 

 

Despite two chances on the power play, one of which was five minutes long due to a boarding major to Mike Liambas, Texas came up empty. On the flip side, Iowa converted on one of their four chances on the man advantage. Landon Bow posted a solid night in goal, surrendering only three goals, two of which came in the first period, on Iowa’s 29 shots. Robson suffered the loss as he allowed seven total goals on the Stars 32 shots. Bows career win total pushes to 55, just one victory shy of Jack Campbell’s team record 56 career wins.

 

Texas faces the Iowa Wild on Saturday, Nov. 30, 2019, for the team’s third consecutive home game. Puck drop is 7 p.m. between the Stars and Wild in their fourth matchup this season.

Written by Stevie Golding
Photo Credit: Andy Nietupski
 

Game Info	Shots	Goaltenders	3 Stars (Xerox Business Solutions Southwest)
Boxscore	TEX: 32	W: Landon Bow (TEX)	1: Rhett Gardner (TEX)
Photo	RFD: 29	L: Mat Robson (IA)	2: Nick Caamano (TEX)
Video			3: Joel Kiviranta (IA)