Texas Meets Rockford in Central Division Semifinals

Apr 21, 2023

CEDAR PARK, Texas – The Texas Stars, American Hockey League affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars, will face the Rockford IceHogs in a best-of-five Central Division semifinal series starting next week.

 

The Stars, who claimed the regular season division title with a 2-1 overtime win against Iowa on Apr. 15, earned a first round bye in the Calder Cup Playoffs. Rockford swept Iowa in a best-of-three series to advance to face Texas. The IceHogs followed up a 3-2 overtime victory in Game 1 on Apr. 19 at the BMO Center with a 4-3 overtime win in Game 2 Friday night at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

 

Central Division Semifinals (best-of-five)

(* if necessary)

 

Game 1: Friday, Apr. 28 – Texas at Rockford – BMO Center, 7:00 p.m. CT

Game 2: Sunday, Apr. 30 – Texas at Rockford – BMO Center, 4:00 p.m. CT

Game 3: Wednesday, May 3 – Rockford at Texas – H-E-B Center at Cedar Park, 7:00 p.m. CT

*Game 4: Friday, May 5 – Rockford at Texas – H-E-B Center at Cedar Park, 7:00 p.m. CT

*Game 5: Saturday, May 6 – Rockford at Texas – H-E-B Center at Cedar Park, 7:00 p.m. CT

 

This will be the fifth time the Stars face the IceHogs in the postseason, following last year’s best-of-three play-in series that Rockford won two games to none. Texas previously eliminated Rockford in six games during the 2018 Western Conference Finals to advance to the Calder Cup Finals. Before that, the IceHogs swept the Stars 3-0 in the first round of the 2015 playoffs and Texas swept Rockford 4-0 in 2010.

 

Texas finished the eight-game regular season series against Rockford 3-2-3-0, featuring a 2-1-1-0 mark at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park and a 1-1-2-0 record at the BMO Center. The Stars’ most lopsided win in the series was a 6-1 showing at home Dec. 20, while their widest margin of defeat was a 7-2 setback on Nov. 23 in Rockford. Three of the IceHogs wins over the Stars came in three consecutive overtime matchups Dec. 21 at Texas, and Jan. 3 and Feb. 17 in Illinois.

 

The other best-of-five division semifinal will feature the second and third place teams, Milwaukee and Manitoba. The winners of the two division semifinals will meet in the best-of-five division finals, with dates and times to be announced at a later date.

 

Tickets for the guaranteed Game 3 in Cedar Park are on sale now at www.texasstars.com/tickets. Additionally, Texas Stars playoff strip tickets are available for purchase now. To secure your seats for the entire playoff run, call 512-GO-STARS (467-8277) or email Tickets@TexasStars.com today.

 

Photo Credit: Andy Nietupski