Stars Storm Back to Defeat IceHogs

Mar 13, 2024

CEDAR PARK, Texas – The Texas Stars, American Hockey League affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars, defeated the Rockford IceHogs 5-3 on Wednesday night to secure a split of a two-game midweek series at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park.

 

Lukas Reichel put Rockford in front first at 12:02 of the opening period by snapping a shot into the top-left corner behind Remi Poirier on a power play.

 

In the second period, Derrick Pouliot scored his ninth goal of the season when he fired a shot from the blue line that glanced off an IceHogs’ defender and bounced past Drew Commesso at 5:39 to tie the game. Rockford reclaimed a 2-1 lead with 2:39 remaining in the stanza when David Gust fired a shot from the bottom of the right circle that rebounded off a Stars’ player and across the goal line. The Stars tied the game when Mavrik Bourque swatted a shot in near the front of the net with 50.1 seconds to spare. Curtis McKenzie then beat the buzzer by directing a pass from Bourque in with 1.5 seconds remaining in the middle frame. McKenzie’s go-ahead goal late in the second came on the man advantage and tied him for the franchise record (50) for power-play goals with Stars Assistant Coach Travis Morin.

 

The third period saw Jack Becker make it 4-2 for the Stars by scoring on a breakaway at 3:16. After Cole Guttman scored for the IceHogs with an extra attacker at 16:17, McKenzie iced the game and secured a 5-3 win for Texas by burying an empty-net insurance marker with 1:33 left on the clock. The 5-3 victory has the Stars alone at third in the AHL’s Central Division, two points ahead of the IceHogs.

 

Poirier picked up the win in goal to improve to 15-12-3 on the season after turning aside 28 of the 31 shots he faced. Commesso was handed the loss and fell to 12-13-4 after allowing four goals on 30 shots.

 

The Stars travel to Arizona next to take on the Tucson Roadrunners on Saturday at 9:00 p.m. CT and Sunday at 6:00 p.m. CT before continuing the five-game road trip with three games in California.

 

Photo Credit: Andy Nietupski / Texas Stars

 

Game Info	Shots	Goaltenders	3 Stars (Ubeo Business Services)
Boxscore	TEX: 31	W: Poirier (TEX)	1: McKenzie (TEX)
Photo	RFD: 31	L: Commesso (RFD)	2: Bourque (TEX)
Video			3: Becker (TEX)