Texas Fails to 'Earn Its Chances', Falls to Iowa 5-2

(Credit: Logan Foust/Texas Stars)

Twelve days. That's what separates the Texas Stars from playoff hockey. And on Tuesday night, with the clock ticking and the bracket taking shape, they dropped a game at home to the last-place team in the Central Division.

The Iowa Wild arrived at the H-E-B Center in Cedar Park sitting at the bottom of the division standings, with no playoff hopes, and nothing left to protect. They left with two points they weren't supposed to have.

That's on Texas.

"You have to earn your chances against them," head coach Toby Petersen said after the game. "Every inch of ice is earned. And if you aren't opportunistic, and if you don't take advantage of the chances you do get, then it can be total..." He paused, searching for the word. "Tonight, that was the case."

Iowa wasted no time making their intentions clear. Hunter Haight's backhand at 2:58 of the first frame caught Remi Poirier off guard and gave the Wild an early lead that set the tone for the night. It was the kind of goal that shouldn't happen, against the kind of team that shouldn't be dictating terms at the H-E-B Center in April. 

And yet, there it was. The Wild closed out the frame with an 8-7 shots on goal advantage, and for a team that came in riding a three-game win streak, the opening twenty minutes felt like a misfire.

The second period didn't offer much relief. Matt Kiersted's breakaway goal at 4:26 pushed the lead to two. Texas managed just four shots on goal through the first seven minutes of the middle frame, a number that told its own story. 

Harrison Scott gave the building a reason to breathe at 7:34, lifting a wicked backhand off the post and past Cal Petersen just as a power play expired, which notably, was the first goal the Stars had scored against Iowa this season outside of the third period. It cut the deficit to one, but the damage was already done.

There was a moment somewhere in that second period when the H-E-B Center got quiet in the wrong way, not the held-breath quiet of a close game, but the uncomfortable quiet of a crowd that wasn't sure what it was watching. The Iowa Wild, of all teams, had put that feeling in the room.

The third period started with genuine promise. Jack Anderson buried his first professional goal from the point to tie the game at two and briefly turned the building back on. Texas poured on fifteen shots in the final frame alone, more than the first two periods combined. 

But the Michael Karow penalty erased the momentum. Hunter Haight got his second of the night on the ensuing power play after Texas couldn't clear the puck from in front of Poirier. Former Texas defenseman Ben Gleason added another, and Gerry Mayhew's empty-netter after Poirier was pulled made it 5-2, which is an ugly number that didn't fully reflect the third period effort but absolutely reflected the forty minutes that made it necessary.

Petersen didn't flinch from the penalty situation. "We've done a good job this year staying disciplined," he said. "But tonight was the exception. You can only rely on Remi and the penalty killing unit to kill so many. Eventually the levy is going to break. And tonight it did."

On the offensive side, the issue was equally clear. "We need to shoot more, that's clear," Petersen said. "You had a clear shot, and you try to make the extra pass. That was definitely the case tonight."

Texas finished with a 28-24 shots on goal advantage, a number that suggests a better version of this game was available to them. But available and taken are two different things. And with twelve days left on the calendar, the gap between those two words is exactly what will determine how far this team goes in May.

"We got to work on our game and be better all around," Petersen said.

Wednesday night is another chance to do exactly that. Same building, same opponent, same opportunity to answer the question Tuesday left open.

Puck drop is 7:00 PM CT.

Tonight's lines:

Lind-Shlaine-Seminoff

Hanas-Becker-Hryckowian

Stranges-Scott-McKenzie

Martino-Chisholm-McDonald

Taylor-Krys

Karow-Minnetian

J. Poirier -Anderson

R. Poirier

Injuries, scratches, and notes 

Kolyachonok, Looft, Bertucci (scratch)

Wheatcroft, Tuomaala (injury) 

Tonight's attendance was 4,679.

AHL Gamesheet - Texas v. Iowa - April 7 2026