Rookie Derek Hulak stretches point streak to five games in loss
Two Texas mistakes came back to bite them as the Stars lost to the visiting Iowa Wild by a 2-1 margin at home tonight. Both Wild goals came off miscues in the Texas zone that put the puck on the stick of a visiting skater.
"Iowa worked hard, but two turnovers cost us goals," said Coach Laxdal. "If you take those out, you'd probably like the result of the game. You can't make that critical mistake."
The Stars appeared to be rolling great guns in the first period, taking aim at Johan Gustafsson nine times before the Wild registered a single shot on Jack Campbell. The Stars scored an almost inevitable goal just five minutes into the game and looked like they were going to roll through the contest with the way they came out of the gate.
"We got some great looks but we're trying to look for the pretty play."
Despite a 15-8 shots advantage after twenty, Texas only led 1-0. It would be their only goal of the game.
Laxdal continued, "I want to see the trigger pulled quicker. We're waiting too much and when we do get a shot through, we hit the guy on the net-front screen."
The power play did not connect despite five chances and fell victim to looking for that pretty play at times.
"If you take that extra second, things close pretty quick," said Derek Hulak, who extended his point streak to five games with an assist. "There was evidence of that tonight, myself included, where we have to be a half second quicker and take that first option to get pucks through."
Iowa got the tying goal in the second period when Jack Campbell came out of his net to clear the puck and it was intercepted by a forechecking Iowa skater. Campbell got to his net and rebuffed the first bid, but Stu Bickel scored on the ensuing scrum for a 1-1 tie.
Gustafsson stood tall in the final frame for Iowa to hold the Stars at bay. The opportunistic Wild made it worth his while with a goal off missed Texas breakout pass. The pass up the middle was intercepted by Iowa and came back into their own net as Brett Bulmer got his second of the year.
Texas was unable to come up with the equalizer to force overtime and fell to last place Iowa. The Stars will be in action again tomorrow when Toronto comes to town.
Tonight's lines:
Hulak-Morin-Rallo
Ranford-Smith-Glennie
Henderson-Root-Stransky
Faille-Peters
Gaunce-Fortunus
Honka-Jokipakka
Mangene-Meech
Valentine
Campbell
Injuries, scratches, and notes:
Ritchie (call up)
Wrenn, Dalhuisen (scratch)
Dowling, Troock, McKenzie, Faksa (injury)
The Stars rotated Valentine, Mangene and various forwards at wing on the fourth line. Defensive pairings were all over, but this is what warmups looked like.
Tonight's attendance was 4,785.
AHL Gamesheet - Texas v. Iowa - January 9 2015
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| Taylor Peters shoots on Johan Gustafsson (Credit: Christina Shapiro/Texas Stars) |
"Iowa worked hard, but two turnovers cost us goals," said Coach Laxdal. "If you take those out, you'd probably like the result of the game. You can't make that critical mistake."
The Stars appeared to be rolling great guns in the first period, taking aim at Johan Gustafsson nine times before the Wild registered a single shot on Jack Campbell. The Stars scored an almost inevitable goal just five minutes into the game and looked like they were going to roll through the contest with the way they came out of the gate.
"We got some great looks but we're trying to look for the pretty play."
Despite a 15-8 shots advantage after twenty, Texas only led 1-0. It would be their only goal of the game.
Laxdal continued, "I want to see the trigger pulled quicker. We're waiting too much and when we do get a shot through, we hit the guy on the net-front screen."
The power play did not connect despite five chances and fell victim to looking for that pretty play at times.
"If you take that extra second, things close pretty quick," said Derek Hulak, who extended his point streak to five games with an assist. "There was evidence of that tonight, myself included, where we have to be a half second quicker and take that first option to get pucks through."
Iowa got the tying goal in the second period when Jack Campbell came out of his net to clear the puck and it was intercepted by a forechecking Iowa skater. Campbell got to his net and rebuffed the first bid, but Stu Bickel scored on the ensuing scrum for a 1-1 tie.
Gustafsson stood tall in the final frame for Iowa to hold the Stars at bay. The opportunistic Wild made it worth his while with a goal off missed Texas breakout pass. The pass up the middle was intercepted by Iowa and came back into their own net as Brett Bulmer got his second of the year.
Texas was unable to come up with the equalizer to force overtime and fell to last place Iowa. The Stars will be in action again tomorrow when Toronto comes to town.
Tonight's lines:
Hulak-Morin-Rallo
Ranford-Smith-Glennie
Henderson-Root-Stransky
Faille-Peters
Gaunce-Fortunus
Honka-Jokipakka
Mangene-Meech
Valentine
Campbell
Injuries, scratches, and notes:
Ritchie (call up)
Wrenn, Dalhuisen (scratch)
Dowling, Troock, McKenzie, Faksa (injury)
The Stars rotated Valentine, Mangene and various forwards at wing on the fourth line. Defensive pairings were all over, but this is what warmups looked like.
Tonight's attendance was 4,785.
AHL Gamesheet - Texas v. Iowa - January 9 2015
It's easy to point as at the mistakes and blame them for the loss but you can't overlook the fact we scored one goal at home on a team that gives up three per game on the season. Our giving up two goals is still our average or better, you figure all things considered we still should of won...other than our inability to perform 60 minutes more-so than our problem with mistakes. This has been the issue all year, getting the team to play a full game and not taking periods off.
ReplyDeleteI thought we had a chance getting over the performance "hump" with Smith, Rallo, and Ritchie (called up) playing well and Travis back. But apparently not. You simply can't lose to the leagues worst team (who is short handed to boot) in your own building.