Stars Skate Past IceHogs in Series Opener

Jan 5, 2024

CEDAR PARK, Texas – The Texas Stars, American Hockey League affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars, took down the Rockford IceHogs 4-1 on Friday night at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park.

 

Matej Blumel struck first for the Stars by scoring backhanded on a breakaway against Drew Commesso at 11:48 after picking up a loose puck poked out to center by Artem Grushnikov. Texas carried the 1-0 lead into the first intermission after outshooting Rockford 11-10 in shots on goal during the first 20 minutes of action.

 

Antti Saarela tied the game 6:02 into the second period on a one-timer that was passed over by Jalen Luypen to beat Remi Poirier from the top of the slot. After two periods in Texas, both sides were tied 1-1 with the IceHogs leading 26-16 in shots on goal.

 

The third period saw Riley Damiani capitalize on a pass to the front of the net from Antonio Stranges at 2:23 that put Texas in front 2-1. Mavrik Bourque then provided an insurance marker for the Stars at 4:07 by firing a shot past Commesso near the top of the left circle. Curtis McKenzie sealed the eventual 4-1 victory by following up on a pair of his rebounds before chipping the third simultaneous shot over Commesso and in at 15:37.

 

Picking up the win in goal for the Stars to improve to 11-4-2 on the campaign was Poirier, who made 31 saves on 32 shots in the contest. Commesso came down with the loss to fall to 6-8-2 after allowing four goals on 28 shots.

 

The Stars wrap up the two-game series against the Rockford IceHogs on Saturday night with another 7:00 p.m. face-off scheduled at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park.

 

Photo Credit: Andy Nietupski / Texas Stars

 

Game Info	Shots	Goaltenders	3 Stars (Ubeo Business Services)
Boxscore	TEX: 28	W: Poirier (TEX)	1: Damiani (TEX)
Photo	RFD: 32	L: Commesso (RFD)	2: Poirier (TEX)
Video			3: Blumel (TEX)