Texas Stars 40-22-13-1, 94 pts #4 Western Conference | at | Rockford IceHogs 46-23-5-2, 99 pts #5 Western Conference |
Rockford leads 2-0
April 29th at 7:00 PM
BMO Harris Bank Center, Rockford, IL
Well, it's do-or-die time for the defending champs. After Saturday's letdown in Cedar Park, there's no margin for error in Rockford.
The Stars will have to make the decision on what kind of lineup to ice this evening. They went development-heavy on Saturday, and it was to their detriment. Branden Troock, Gemel Smith, Kevin Henderson and Scott Valentine all traded their breezers for slacks. With their backs against the proverbial wall, will those players take the ice tonight?
The Stars haven't won in Rockford since January 21, 2013. Tomas Vincour, Alex Chiasson, Antoine Roussel and Matt Fraser were among the goal scorers in that one. Richard Bachman got the win, and Mathieu Tousignant and Luke Gazdic combined for 6 PIMs. Jace Coyle was plus-1.
So, it was a while ago.
Rockford gets three swings at closing out this series and Texas will need to make some history to get themselves out of the hole. No lower seed in a 2-3 format has come back from down 0-2 since the league instituted the best-of-five first round. Only one team has come back from an 0-2 deficit at all. That would be the 2013 P-Bruins, who lost their home games to Hershey but stole both in the GIANT Center and finished the job on home ice in Game 5.
Stars injury/call up report:
Faksa (season-ending injury)
Website: icehogs.com
Blog (unofficial): Rockford IceHogs Fan Blog
Twitter: @goicehogs
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