Gameday Preview: Stars v. Oklahoma City Barons

Texas Stars
17-11-2-1, 37 pts
#4 West Division
v.Oklahoma City Barons
16-11-1-3, 36 pts
#5 West Division
December 20th at 7:30 PM
Cedar Park Center, Cedar Park, TX

This evening Texas hosts the Oklahoma City Barons in the only AHL action of the night. Just two nights ago, all 30 teams were in action for the first time in AHL history. That night, the Barons' Alexandre Giroux also made some history, scoring his 600th career AHL point.

Despite that bright spot, OKC has been on a slide recently. After shooting out of the gate in their first season, the Barons' progress in the standings has slowed. The team is 3-5-0-2 in their last ten and has dropped from first to fifth in the division. The Barons would still make the playoffs despite that fact if they started today because of the weakness in the North Division. That is surely no consolation to the Barons.

Oklahoma City had the exact same chance to make a statement as the Stars, facing Hamilton and San Antonio in consecutive nights, just as Texas did this past weekend. Texas managed 3 of a possible 4 points; Oklahoma City gained zero points. Hamilton crushed the Barons' attack 3-0 as OKC went 0/8 on the power play as well. San Antonio scored two in the third period to come away from Cox Convention Center with a 4-2 win.

Travis Morin leads all Stars scorers against the Barons with 2 goals and an assist in 3 games. Richard Bachman has both of the Stars wins against OKC and has a 1.66 GAA. Jeff Deslauriers has both OKC losses, and Martin Gerber has the lone win and a 1.00 GAA.

Stars injury/call up report:
Krahn (lower body)

Website: okcbarons.com
Blog (unofficial): NewsOK's Barons Hockey
Blog (unofficial): Oil Field Hockey
Twitter: @OKCBaronsHockey

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