Special Teams Take Texas Past Wild

The Texas Stars’ (4-1-0-0) special teams were near perfect in their 6-2 victory over the Iowa Wild (0-6-0-0).  The Stars scored three goals on five power plays and were seven-for-eight on penalty kills. 

“It a game like that, when there is so many special teams, it almost was the deciding factor,” said Texas Star head coach Neil Graham. 

Arttu Hyry led the Star with two goals, both on power plays in the second period.  Antonio Stranges assisted on both goals, and found the back of the net near the start of the final frame.  Jack Becker caught some attention, scoring a short-handed goal midway through the third period.  Also scoring for the Stars were Cameron Hughes, on a power play, and Kyle Capobianco. 

Iowa’s Brendan Gaunce put the Wild on the scoreboard in the first period, and Will Zmolek added a second goal late in the game. 

Penalties were an issue for Texas, making 12 visits to the sin bin for a total of 38 penalty minutes.  Iowa was slightly better, committing nine infractions for 32 minutes. 

“From a physical standpoint we handled ourselves well.  We still have to clean-up our discipline at home, in particular.  We were able to stay out of the box better on the road,” said Graham. 

Stars’ goaltender Magnus Hellberg (3-0-0) was stellar between the pipes, making 36 saves against 38 shots.  Iowa goalkeeper Samual Hlavaj took home the loss, allowing six goals on 23 shots. 

Looking ahead to tomorrow game against the Wild, Graham said, “for us, we have to make sure, again, that we stay humble in the victory tonight and make sure we’re prepared for tomorrow.”