GAME PREVIEW - TEXAS STARS AT IOWA WILD 3.24.15
Mar 24, 2015Texas Stars (31-19-13-1, 76 points) at Iowa Wild (21-40-1-2, 45 points)
Iowa continues a season high six-game home stand, which continued with a 4-2 loss at home Sunday to Charlotte. Iowa finishes the regular season with eight home games and four road games. Iowa continues the home stand, with a visit from their West division rivals. In the last meeting between the two teams, Iowa beat Texas 2-1 in overtime on Mar. 6 at Cedar Park Center. The Stars swept a weekend series at the Wild on Feb. 13-14, outscoring the home team 5-1. The Stars will make their third appearance at Wells Fargo Arena this year. Texas returns one final time on Apr. 7. Iowa and Texas have played six times this season and meet eight times this year, with final two games at Wells Fargo Arena. The Stars own the all-time series with a 9-2-1-0 record against the Wild, including a 4-1-0-0 record in Des Moines. The Wild is 3-7-1-1 all-time against Texas, including a 1-4-0-0 mark at home.
Iowa is 8-21-0-1 at home this season, having been outscored 98-63 by the visiting teams. The Wild is coming off a 4-2 defeat to Charlotte at home on Mar. 22. Iowa is mired in a franchise-record, 11-game winless (0-10-0-1) streak on home ice, dating back to Jan. 18. The Wild is 4-5-0-1 over the last 10 games, while the Stars are 6-2-2-0. Texas is 14-13-5-0 on the road, having been outscored 91-88. The club has been on a roll of late with a six-game winning streak from Mar. 11 – 21. Texas leads the AHL with 13 overtime losses in 17 overtime appearances. The Stars are coming off a 4-3 loss at Rockford on Sunday.
Upcoming Games:
Team Date Time Radio / TV
vs. Texas 3/24 7:00 PM KXNO / iHeartRadio
vs. San Antonio 3/27 7:00 PM KXNO / iHeartRadio
vs. San Antonio 3/28 12:30 PM KXNO / iHeartRadio
at Chicago 3/29 3:00 PM KXNO / iHeartRadio
vs. Rochester 4/3 7:00 PM KXNO / iHeartRadio
Transactions:
3.12.15 – Add – D Nicholas Rioux (signed PTO)
3.21.15 – Add – F Ruslan Fedotenko (re-signed PTO)
3.22.15 – Add – D Benjamin Dieude-Fauvel (signed PTO)
3.24.15 – Add – F Pavel Jenys (signed ATO)
Last Time Out
The Iowa Wild were defeated by the Charlotte Checkers 4-2 in front of 4,891 fans on Sunday at Wells Fargo Arena. Charlotte forwards Brody Sutter, Justin Shugg and Chad LaRose, each tallied a second-period goals to help the Checkers push past the Wild. Charlotte goalie John Muse made 29 saves on 31 shots in the victory. Wild defensemen Joel Chouinard (1g,1a) and Jonathon Blum (2a) each had two points in the defeat. Wild goalie John Curry stopped 22 of 25 shots in the setback
Iowa Wild
Through 64 games this season, forward Tyler Graovac is the team’s leading scorer. He leads the team in goals with 20 tallies and is first with 41 points in 61 games played. Michael Keranen is second on the team in scoring with 34 points and is first with 25 assists in 59 games. Right wing Marc Hagel is third among active skaters with a career-high 30 points in 55 games played. Rookie Zack Mitchell is fifth among active skaters with 15 goals and 27 points in 64 games played. Defenseman Jon Blum is the leader in points from the blueline. He has nine goals and 30 points in 54 games played. Veteran center Brett Sutter is also among the team leaders with 24 points in 59 games played.
Goalies Johan Gustafsson, John Curry and Josh Harding (injured) man the Iowa Wild crease. Harding is 0-1-1 with a 3.37 GAA and a .920 SV%. John Curry is 11-18-1 with a 2.80 GAA and a .913 SV%. Gustafsson is 8-18-0 with a 3.36 GAA and a .898 SV %.
Iowa’s power play is ranked 21st at 15.1%, while the penalty kill sits 30th at 76.2%.
Notables –
· Wild defenseman Jon Blum needs two more points to surpass Brian Connelly’s team record for points in a season by a defenseman with 34 in 2013-14. Blum is the team’s all-time leading scorer from the blueline with 59 points in 117 games.
· Texas leads the AHL with 13 overtime losses this season.
Texas Stars
2013-14 AHL regular season and Calder Playoffs MVP, Travis Morin leads the Stars with 53 points in 53 games played. He has 35 assists and 18 goals for Texas. Morin is tied for tenth in the AHL scoring race and he has a team-high 22 power-play points. The Stars all-time leading scorer also has two goals and six assists for eight points over the last seven games. Left wing Brendan Ranford is second on the club with 43 points in 61 games played. He is second among the Stars with 28 assists. Rookie forward Derek Hulak has emerged as a team-scoring leader with 38 points in 59 games. Hulak is tied for fourth on the team with 17 goals. Forwards Greg Rallo and Justin Dowling are also among the team leaders in points. Rallo has 22 goals and 16 assists for 38 points in 61 games. Dowling has 17 goals and 23 assists for 40 points in 53 games played. In his last seven outings, he has seven assists and eight points. Derek Meech (34 points) and Max Fortunus 29 points) lead all defensemen in scoring.
Goalies Jussi Rynnas, Jack Campbell and Henrik Kiviaho fill the crease for Texas. Rynnas is 20-5-8 with a 2.52 GAA and a .919 SV%. Campbell is 7-12-5 on the year with a 3.19 GAA and a .901 SV %. He is 4-1-0 with a 2.09 GAA and a .944 SV % in his last five starts. Kiviaho has yet to make his Texas debut this season.
Texas’ power play is ranked third at 20.0%, while the penalty kill sits sixth at 86.0%.