Texas Stars Claw Their Way to 3-2 Shootout Victory Over Iowa Wild

(Credit: Iowa Wild)

The Texas Stars emerged victorious in a thrilling 3-2 shootout win against the Iowa Wild at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, IA. This road game, the first of three, was a nail-biter from start to finish, marking the beginning of the second half of the AHL season. The Stars, currently holding second place in the Central Division, were determined to extend their road win streak to nine after a recent 4-0 home loss to the Milwaukee Admirals.

The first period saw a strong start from Texas, with five shots on goal within the first five minutes. Iowa struggled to gain momentum, managing only one shot on goal in the first seven minutes. Despite an early penalty to Gavin White for slashing, Texas held off Iowa. The Stars capitalized on a power play opportunity when Antonio Stranges scored, assisted by Justin Hryckowian and Cameron Hughes, marking Stranges’ 15th goal of the season and putting Texas up 1-0. The period ended with Texas leading 1-0 and outshooting Iowa 13-6.

The second period saw a shift in momentum. Texas struggled to find their groove, and Cameron Hughes received a hooking penalty early in the period. At the midway point of the period, Iowa outshot Texas, only managing five shots on goal to Iowa’s 18. Despite a stellar performance from Texas goalie Magnus Hellberg, who stopped 14 shots midway through the period, Iowa's David Spacek managed to tie the game at one. With just over a minute left in the period, Iowa's Mikey Milne scored, giving Iowa a 2-1 lead at the end of the second. The Stars had only 5 shots on goal in the second period, compared to Iowa's 18.

The third period was intense, with Texas giving up two uncharacteristic, odd-man rushes. With time quickly ticking away, Texas’ Anthony Romano got the equalizer, scoring his first professional goal and tying the game at two with 5:25 remaining in regulation play. Texas ended regulation play with nine shots on goal in the period to Iowa's five.

Tonight’s overtime period was the second time this season that these two teams have had to go into extra frames. The last time was back on October 26th at the H-E-B Center in Cedar Park, TX. Overtime began with Cameron Hughes almost immediately drawing a penalty, resulting in a 4-on-3 power play for Texas. However, the Stars were unable to capitalize. The game proceeded to a shootout after neither team was able to score during the overtime period.

The shootout was a tense affair. In the first round, both Iowa's Sammy Walker and Texas' Arttu Hyry were denied. The second round saw similar results with Iowa's Graeme Clarke and Texas' Cameron Hughes both failing to score. Round three saw Hellberg and Wallstedt continue their strong performances, denying Travis Boyd and Antonio Stranges respectively. In the fourth round, Hellberg stopped Mikey Milne, but it was Texas’ Kole Lind who netted the game-winning goal for Texas, securing the 3-2 shootout victory.

The Texas Stars will continue the series against the Iowa Wild tomorrow at 3 PM CT from Wells Fargo Arena.

Tonight's Lines
Stranges-Hryckowian-Pettersen
Romano-Hughes-Lind
Wheatcroft-Hyry-McKenzie
Ertel-Becker-McDonald

Capobianco-Krys
Looft-Petrovic
Karow-White

Hellberg

Injuries, scratches and notes
Bichsel, Blümel (callup)
Seminoff, Kyrou (scratch)

Tonight's attendance was 12,057.

AHL Gamesheet - Texas v. Iowa - January 25, 2025

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