| Texas Stars 25-15-3-2, 55 pts #6 West Division | at | Oklahoma City Barons 25-16-2-5, 57 pts #4 West Division |
January 28th at 6:05 PM
Cox Convention Center, Oklahoma City, OK
Texas faces another divisional opponent to start the weekend before the All-Star break. The Stars face a red hot Barons squad in the second game of a home stand in Oklahoma. The Barons are an impressive 7-1-1-1 in their last 10 games, thus earning points in 9 of the last 10. Those 16 points since January 8th have only kept them afloat in the West. However, it has pulled them from #6 to #4 in the West.
The Stars have done well against the rookie Barons this year, going 4-1-0-0 with their only loss coming at OKC in November. The division still remains tight top to bottom with four points between first and seventh.
Two of Texas' forwards, Gagnon and Morin, saw quite a few OKC Barons in Edmonton on Tuesday. The injury-ravaged Oilers have called up Jeff Petry, Linus Omark and Liam Reddox. All three seemed destined to stay in Alberta for quite a while, so Texas will need to concentrate on the Barons' veteran forwards. Alexandre Giroux and Brad Moran lead the Barons with 53 and 42 points respectively.
Martin Gerber continues to be the star in net for OKC with a 16-10-3 mark compared to Jeff Deslauriers at 7-7-2. Gerber has won four of his last five starts and Deslauriers three of his last five.
Speaking of goaltenders, Texas is very close to having one of theirs back in nets. Brent Krahn has started skated in the past week. I would not expect that Adrien LeMay gets any starts for Texas before Krahn's return. He is expected to return sometime soon after the All-Star break.
Stars injury/call up report:
Krahn, McCulloch (lower body)
Fortunus (undisclosed)
Website: okcbarons.com
Blog (unofficial): NewsOK's Barons Hockey
Blog (unofficial): Oil Field Hockey
Twitter: @OKCBaronsHockey
Let's not forget the return to the AHL for Bryan Helmer...although he's not points-leading on the season for the Barons, he's been a force since signing with the Barons last month, teaming up with the other former Hershey Bear, Alexandre Giroux. In 11 games he has 4 goals and 8 assists.
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