Texas Stars Weekly Update - March 14, 2016
Mar 14, 2016
Stars Return Home in the Middle of a Tight Playoff Race
Last week’s record: 1-1-0-0
Overall record: 35-21-5-3, .609 Win Pct. (2nd, Pacific Division)
CEDAR PARK, Texas – The Texas Stars return to Cedar Park Center on Wednesday to begin a four-game homestand in the middle a tight playoff race in the Pacific Division.
-- THIS WEEK’S SCHEDULE --
March 16 at 7:30 p.m. CST and March 19 at 7 p.m. CST vs. Grand Rapids Griffins:
The Stars host the Griffins in a two-game set this week at Cedar Park Center to close out their season series against the Central Division’s top team. Texas is 0-2-0-0 against Grand Rapids this season. The Griffins have been red hot, winning 10 straight games. Grand Rapids is led by Andy Miele (13-35=48), while Martin Frk leads all skaters in the season series with four points against Texas in 2015-16 (2-2=4).
-- LAST WEEK’S RESULTS --
March 11 at Stockton Heat, 2-1 Loss:
Goaltenders Maxime Lagace and Kevin Poulin traded saves throughout the night, but Poulin was one save better to lead the Stockton Heat to a 2-1 lead over the Texas Stars on Friday night in front of 4,819 in attendance at Stockton Arena. Both goaltenders finished with 35 saves, and had to make a variety of key stops in the third period. Poulin’s sliding save in the final minute turned away the Stars’ best chance to force overtime after pulling Lagace for the extra attacker. Curtis McKenzie (five games) and Justin Dowling (four games) each extended their point streak for the Stars in the loss.
March 12 at Stockton Heat, 3-2 Overtime Win :
Maxime Lagace stopped 41 shots in net and Brendan Ranford scored the game-winner to lift the Texas Stars to a 3-2 overtime win on Saturday over the Stockton Heat in front of 6,659 in attendance at Stockton Arena. The win closed out the Stars’ season series against the Heat. Derek Hulak scored twice for Texas and Justin Dowling extended his point streak to five games with three assists. Lagace earned his 18th win in net and finished with 76 saves on 80 shots through the two-game set against Stockton.
-- PRACTICE/TRAVEL SCHEDULE --
Monday: Day Off
Tuesday: Practice, 10 a.m. CST
Wednesday: Texas Stars vs. Grand Rapids Griffins, 7:30 p.m. CST
Thursday: Practice, 10 a.m. CST
Friday: Practice, 10 a.m. CST
Saturday: Texas Stars vs. Grand Rapids Griffins, 7 p.m. CST
Sunday: Day Off
-- NEWS, NOTES AND UPCOMING MILESTONES –
Along with his five-game point streak since returning from injury, Justin Dowling has tallied 15 points (1-14=15) over his last 13 games for the Stars. Despite winning their game on Saturday night, the Stars saw their second-place lead over San Diego shrink to nine percentage points due to the California teams playing eight fewer games than the rest of the league this season. Maxime Lagace is among the AHL’s rookie goaltending leaders with 18 wins (second), a 2.63 goals against average (third) and a .921 save percentage (first). The Stars are 5-3-2-0 with Travis Morin and Greg Rallo both out of the lineup. Morin led the team in points and Rallo led the team in goals at the time of their respective injuries.
-- UPCOMING PROMOTIONS --
Wednesday’s game against Grand Rapids is a Winning Wednesday. If the Stars win, fans in attendance will receive a voucher for a free ticket to the team’s following Wednesday game on March 23 against the Milwaukee Admirals. Wednesday’s game is also an H-E-B Night and post-game open ice. Fans can donate an H-E-B-branded, non-perishable food item at the box office for five dollars off their ticket purchase and walk or skate on the ice after the game.
Saturday’s game will feature a Stars Beach Towel giveaway and a post-game autograph session with the Stars’ players. It is also a Texas Lottery Lucky Row Night and Coke Zero Family Four-Pack game. The first Stars player to score will win free scratch-off tickets for a lucky row of fans at Cedar Park Center, courtesy of the Texas Lottery, and fans can also purchase four tickets, four hot dogs and four soft drinks starting at $16 per person, courtesy of Coke Zero.
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.