Gameday Preview: Texas Stars v. Grand Rapids Griffins

Texas Stars
31-27-4-3, 69 pts
#5 Central Division
v.Grand Rapids Griffins
34-18-6-4, 78 pts
#2 Central Division
March 20th at 7:00 PM
H-E-B Center at Cedar Park, Cedar Park, TX

(credit: Texas Stars)
At the very least, the Texas Stars's last eleven games will be an engaging prospect watch as the club brought in a bevy of amateur players on Tuesday, rounding out the roster with some intriguing youngsters. Among that group is Ty Dellandrea, the Dallas first round pick from 2018, who figures to play on Friday.

But there's still a playoff race to consider, and the Stars are by no means out of the picture. The Grand Rapids Griffins head into Cedar Park on Wednesday on the second night of a back-to-back. They are a lock for the top three in the Central but still have a ton to play for in terms of positioning. Perhaps the Stars will catch them at the right time with Grand Rapids playing in San Antonio on Tuesday, although they failed to take advantage of the weary Rockford IceHogs on Sunday.

Phil Desrosiers has been doing enough recently for the Stars to win their share of games. However,  Landon Bow has been reassigned and will only help stabilize the situation in net. Last time the two teams played was in early March, and Desrosiers allowed four goals on 23 shots in the loss.

It's hard to spot trends in Texas's offense in the last several games. The team will flash some serious scoring potential, as evidenced in a seven-goal explosion last week, and then follow it up with a game in which they can't buy a goal. It can be attributed to the ebbs and flows of a professional hockey team's offense, but I tend to believe that this is a team looking for a couple of depth forwards to step up and establish themselves as consistent scoring threats. Something to keep an eye on.

The puck drops at 7:00 PM CDT. 

Stars injury/call up report:
Scarlett (season-ending ACL injury)
Laberge (upper body)
Caamano (lower body)
L'Esperance, Bow (call up)

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