Christian Kyrou Seals Texas’ First OT Victory of the Year, 3-2 Over Iowa

(Credit: Logan Foust/Texas Stars)

After a critical overtime penalty on the Iowa Wild, it did not take long for Texas Stars defenseman Christian Kyrou to find the back of the net to claim victory over winless Iowa, 3-2 in the extra period Saturday night at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park. 

“I really liked our third period, we just stayed with them,” Kyrou said about tonight's victory. “I like where we are as a team.”  

After thrashing the Wild last night with a 6-2 victory, the Stars are currently on a four-game win streak sweeping both Tucson and Iowa as they head off for their second road trip of the year. 

Just under seven minutes into the opening period and coming out of their first penalty kill of the night, Stars captain Curtis McKenzie connected with Cameron Hughes from the faceoff circle to the goalie’s crease for a backhanded goal to give Texas an early 1-0 lead. 

After the Stars initial goal, both squads played solidly, capturing an even shot count with 12 to end the opening period. The penalty kill was very effective, neutralizing Iowa's skater advantage. A near miss by Wild forward Travis Boyd slid just behind Mangus Hellberg, Iowa's final scoring opportunity of the first. 

The Wild suffered a pair of penalties to begin the second period. With an effective penalty kill, the Stars were unable to capitalize on their skater advantage, getting only one shot on goal in the span. 

Facing pressure from behind the net, Wild forward Devin Shore slipped a backhand pass to fellow linesmen Reese Johnson. He delivered on a wide open wrist shot, beating Texas goalie Magnus Hellberg to tie the game up 1-1 in the middle of the second. 

Hellberg redeemed himself just two minutes later, when Iowa started an offensive onslaught. He stopped a near backhand wraparound and a pair of slapshots from post to post preventing any scoring by Iowa. 

“[Hellberg] made saves when we weren't sharp and when we did make some big mistakes, he was there to get us out of a jam,” coach Neil Graham said of Hellberg's performance. “He's done a very good job in the early going.”

Veteran defenseman Alex Petrovic, with a deep slapshot goal, regained the one-goal lead for the home team at 2-1. After a defensively dominant third, Iowa pulled goalie Jesper Wallstedt with under two minutes left in regulation, desperate for their first win of the season.

With the clock winding down to under a minute and down by one, there was too much traffic for Hellberg in the crease as Wild forward Ben Jones stuffed the puck in to tie the game late to send it to overtime. Hellberg was furious, following the referees to center ice to plead his case on goaltender interference.

“Emotions rise in the initial reaction, and then you have to recollect,” Graham said on goal. “Once you realize there's nothing that's going to get overturned, you got to reset quickly, because there's 50 seconds left in regulation.” 

After the Wild struggled to get set up despite winning the opening draw, they committed a costly holding penalty early in the overtime period to give Texas a 4-on-3 opportunity.  After a missed goal by the officials from Stars forward Matěj Blümel play continued just as Iowa regained full strength. A slapshot from Kyrou from the right face off dot sealed the Stars first overtime victory of the season.

“The more challenges we face early and especially overcome, we're going to be better for it in the long run,” Graham concluded. 

Texas will return to the road for its second away series facing the Colorado Eagles Friday 8:05 PM at the Blue FCU Arena in Loveland, Colorado.

Tonight's Lines: 
Pettersen-Hughes-Lind
Blümel-Hyry-McKenzie
Stranges-Hryckowian-Wheatcroft
Arcuri-Seminoff-Becker

Looft-Petrovic
Capobianco-Bichsel
Karow-Kyrou

Hellberg

Injuries, scratches and notes:
Krys, McDonald, Romano (scratch) 

Tonight's attendance was 5,921.

AHL Gamesheet - Texas v. Iowa - October 26 2024 


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