Gameday Preview: Texas Stars v. Chicago Wolves

Texas Stars 27-23-4-3, 61 pts #5 Central Division

v.

Chicago Wolves 33-17-5-1, 72 pts #1 Central Division

March 2nd at 7:00 PM

H-E-B Center at Cedar Park, Cedar Park, TX

UPDATE: Denis Gurianov has been reassigned to Texas.

No question about it, last night was a heartbreaker. Down the middle, Texas only had one true centerman and was playing all sorts of players up the lineup in positions they weren't familiar with. They held the top team in the division to just 22 shots on net and came within a shot of the win.

"We spent a lot of energy just trying to hang with 'em," said Laxdal postgame. "I’ll be interested to see how we do [Saturday] night."

(Credit: Andy Nietupski/Texas Stars)

Well, welcome to Saturday night. Chicago is now a winner in six straight games and has an offense that can't be kept down for long. "They’ve got Tynan, McKenzie, Carr. They’re a pretty good group over there, and our guys did a good job of limiting their chances and playing tight. That’s the way we have to play. We don’t have the firepower to score four or five goals a game. We have to play a 1-0 or 2-1 game and manage it the way we did."

What's really nice to see for the young club is that both goaltenders are confident and composed, ready to contribute. Adam Mascherin noted that last night after Philippe Desrosiers put in a great effort for Texas, "You see [Desrosiers is] unbelievable out there. There’s no quit in that guy. It starts from him, and the rest of our effort tonight showed a reflection of what he can do out there. We’re real confident in both our goalies. We gotta win that one for him."

The Stars have had no luck against Chicago this year. They've got just one win against the Wolves among six tries so far. The two clubs meet twice more, tonight and March 22nd.

Stars injury/call up report:

Scarlett (season-ending ACL injury)
Laberge (upper body)

Fedun, Gurianov, L'Esperance (call up)