GAME PREVIEW - TEXAS STARS AT IOWA WILD 4.7.15
Apr 7, 2015Texas Stars (35-21-13-1, 84 points) at Iowa Wild (22-43-2-2, 48 points)
Iowa continues a four-game home stand on Tuesday with Texas’ final visit to Des Moines this season. Iowa finishes the regular season with four home games and three road games. Iowa continues the home stand, with a visit from their West division rivals. In the last meeting between the two teams, Iowa fell to Texas 4-3 in Des Moines on Mar. 24. The Stars are 5-1-1-0 against the Wild this season, including a perfect 3-0-0-0 mark at Wells Fargo Arena. Iowa is 2-5-0-0, including an 0-3-0-0 mark at home against the Stars this season. Tuesday in the final of eight meetings this season between the two clubs. The Stars own the all-time series with a 10-2-1-0 record against the Wild, including a 5-1-0-0 record in Des Moines. The Wild is 3-8-1-1 all-time against Texas, including a 1-5-0-0 mark at home.
Iowa is 9-23-1-1 at home this season, having been outscored 107-73 by the visiting teams. The Wild is coming off a 6-0 win at home over Rochester on Friday. The win marked the first win at home for Iowa since Jan. 18, ending a run of 14 straight (0-12-1-1) without a win on home ice – the longest such streak in team history. The Wild is 2-6-1-1 over the last 10 games, while the Stars are 7-3-0-0. Texas is 17-13-5-0 on the road, having outscored the home teams 101-98. The club has been on a roll of late with a six-game winning streak from Mar. 11 – 21. Additionally, the club has a three game winning streak heading into Tuesday’s game. Texas leads the AHL with 13 overtime losses after appearing in 18 overtimes. The Stars are coming off a 6-2 win at Chicago on Sunday. They have four wins over the last five road games. Texas is 10-3-1-0 over the last 14 outings.
Upcoming Games:
Team Date Time Radio / TV
vs. Texas 4/7 7:00 PM KXNO / iHeartRadio
vs. Rockford 4/9 7:00 PM KXNO / iHeartRadio
vs. Oklahoma City 4/10 7:00 PM KXNO / iHeartRadio / MC 22
at Chicago 4/12 4:00 PM KXNO / iHeartRadio
vs. Toronto 4/14 7:00 PM KXNO/ iHeartRadio
Transactions:
3.30.15 – Delete – D Christian Folin (recalled by Minnesota - NHL)
3.30.15 – Add – D Zach Palmquist (signed ATO)
3.31.15 – Delete – D Benjamin Dieude-Fauvel (released PTO)
Last Time Out
The Iowa Wild defeated the Rochester Americans 6-0 in front of 5,929 fans on Friday night at Wells Fargo Arena. Iowa goalie John Curry made 22 saves in the win, recording his first shutout and the team’s first shutout at home this season. Defenseman Joel Chouinard led the way, scoring twice in the contest. Forwards Tyler Graovac, Brady Brassart and Jared Knight, along with defenseman Stu Bickel also scored in the Wild victory. With the win, Iowa snaps a 14-game home losing streak, dating back to Jan. 18. Rochester goalie Pat Nagle (1-3-0) made 31 saves in the loss
Iowa Wild
Through 69 games this season, forward Tyler Graovac is the team’s leading scorer. He leads the team in goals with 21 tallies and is first with 45 points in 66 games played. Michael Keranen is second on the team in scoring with 36 points and is first with 27 assists in 64 games. Right wing Marc Hagel is third among active skaters with a career-high 32 points in 60 games played. Rookie Zack Mitchell is fifth among active skaters with 16 goals and 32 points in 69 games played. Defenseman Jon Blum is the leader in points from the blueline. He has nine goals and 32 points in 59 games played. Veteran center Brett Sutter is also among the team leaders with 26 points in 64 games played.
Goalies Johan Gustafsson and John Curry man the Iowa Wild crease. John Curry is 12-19-2 with a 2.67 GAA and a .917 SV%. Gustafsson is 8-20-0 with a 3.41 GAA and a .895 SV %.
Iowa’s power play is ranked 23rd at 14.5%, while the penalty kill sits 30th at 75.5%.
Notables –
· Wild defenseman Jon Blum needs one more point to surpass Brian Connelly’s team record for points in a season by a defenseman with 32 in 2013-14. Blum is the team’s all-time leading scorer from the blueline with 61 points in 122 games.
· Texas is fourth in the AHL averaging 3.11 goals per game and Iowa is 28th at 2.28.
· Texas is 18th defensively allowing 2.87 goals per game and Iowa is 27th at 3.20.
Texas Stars
2013-14 AHL regular season and Calder Cup Playoffs MVP, Travis Morin leads the Stars with 56 points in 59 games played. He has 36 assists and 20 goals for Texas. Morin is tied for tenth in the AHL scoring race and he has a team-high 22 power-play points. Center Justin Downing has moved into second on the team in points with 47 in 59 games played. He is second on the team with 21 goals and is third with 26 assists. He was named the AHL Player of the Week on Monday – he scored four goals and tallied six points in three games over the weekend. Right wing Greg Rallo leads the team with 24 goals and he is tied for third on the team in points with 44 in 67 games played. He leads Texas with 193 shots on goal. Left wing Brendan Ranford is tied for third on the club with 44 points in 67 games played. He is second among the Stars with 29 assists. Rookie forward Derek Hulak has emerged as a team-scoring leader with 42 points in 65 games. Hulak is tied for third on the team with 20 goals. Derek Meech (34 points) and Max Fortunus (31 points) lead all defensemen in scoring.
Goalies Jussi Rynnas, Jack Campbell fill the crease for Texas. Rynnas is 20-5-8 with a 2.52 GAA and a .919 SV%. Campbell is 11-14-5 on the year with a 3.11 GAA and a .905 SV %. He is 8-3-0 with a 2.49 GAA and a .909 SV % in his last 11 starts.
Texas’ power play is ranked third at 19.7%, while the penalty kill sits sixth at 86.5%.