Gameday Preview: Texas Stars at Iowa Wild

Texas Stars 20-15-1-2, 43 pts, 0.566 #6 Pacific Division

at

Iowa Wild 18-19-4-1, 41 pts, 0.488 #5 Central Division

January 21st at 7:00 PM

Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines, IA

There's always a response on the second night. We've documented here the well-known fact that Texas has trouble coming out of the gate in general. This is doubly true when the other team has motivation, such as losing in their home barn the night before after leading for most of the game. Texas did well to manage things last night, being down 1-0 and coming back to win. The win was Texas' second on the season when trailing after two periods (2-11-1-1). It was only Iowa's 4th loss of the season when leading after two periods (12-2-1-1).

Justin Dowling did not travel with the team and will still be out tonight. It seemed like all six defensemen in last night performed well, so Brandon Anselmini would only come in as a change of pace. However, if you're winning, why change the pace?

The Stars still have a mountain to climb to get into playoff contention. Despite being 5 games over .500, they trail Stockton and San Diego for the 4th spot in the division. Texas will need to extend their winning streak by four more games, including tonight, in order to get above .600, which is the current mark for 4th place.

Stars injury/call up report:
Honka (call up)
Dowling (injury)

Wild Web Resources:
Website: iowawild.com
Blog (Official): I Wild Blog
Twitter: @IAWild
Twitter: @IowaWildFish (former Stars PBP Josh Fisher)