Big Second Period Leads Stars to 5-2 Win
Mar 2, 2016Boxscore
Photos
Postgame Video
Shots:
Stars - 29
Wild - 32
McKenzie Scores Twice in Texas Win
CEDAR PARK, Texas -- A four-goal second period turned a one-goal deficit into a 5-2 win for the Texas Stars over the Iowa Wild on Wednesday night at Cedar Park Center in front of 4,084 in attendance to snap a two-game winless skid for Texas.
Curtis McKenzie finished with two goals in the game, including a shorthanded breakaway goal with 1.4 seconds remaining in period two. Justin Dowling returned to the Stars’ lineup after missing the last 19 games and recorded the 100th assist of his AHL career. Maxime Lagace earned his 16th win of the season in net with 30 saves.
The Stars (33-20-4-3) and the Wild (18-33-3-4) close out their season series on Friday at 7:30 p.m. CST at Cedar Park Center.
The second period began tied at 1-1, but Tyler Graovac slipped a tight-angled shot through Lagace just 26 seconds in to push the Wild in front by one, but the rest of the period belonged to the Stars from that point on. McKenzie scored his first of the game at 6:04 after tipping Brett Ritchie’s shot past Leland Irving in net for the Wild. 38 seconds later, Brendan Ranford tapped home a rebound goal for his 16th of the season.
With just over five minutes left in the second, Matej Stransky capped off an odd-man rush with a wrist shot from the left circle to beat Irving and make it a 4-2 Stars lead. McKenzie ended the period with his breakaway goal to give him 16 on the season.
Both teams traded goals in period one with Jordan Schroeder putting Iowa on the board first just 1:19 into the game. Texas capitalized on a two-man advantage with Stephen Johns’ one-time blast from the left circle to knot things up.
Irving suffered the loss in net, stopping 24 of 29 shots for Iowa. Jason Dickinson saw his five-game goal streak end in the Stars win.
Texas finished 1-for-4 on the power play and was perfect on the penalty kill on five Iowa chances.
The Texas Stars are the primary development affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars and currently in their seventh season at Cedar Park Center. Full season, 24-game and 12-game ticket packages for the 2015-16 campaign are on sale now. For more information, call (512) GO-STARS (467-8277) or visit TexasStars.com.
| Three Stars: 1. Curtis McKenzie (TEX) 2. Justin Dowling (TEX) 3. Maxime Lagace (TEX) |
Goaltenders: W - Lagace L - Irving |
Photo Credit: Christina Shapiro/Texas Stars