IOWA FALLS TO TEXAS 6-3
Feb 18, 2018Wild forward Cal O’Reilly records goal, assist in the loss
DES MOINES, IOWA – Iowa Wild (25-16-7-3; 60 points) dropped Sunday’s matinee to Texas Stars (27-18-5-2; 61 points) 6-3 at Wells Fargo Arena. The loss snapped the Wild’s seven-game home point streak.
Texas forward Greg Rallo opened up the scoring for the visitors at 12:03 in the first period when he slid a puck past Wild goaltender Steve Michalek (27 saves). Stars forward Denis Gurianov weaved through the Wild defense as Rallo snuck behind the backcheckers and was right on the doorstep for the tap-in to give Texas a 1-0 lead.
Wild defenseman Ryan Murphy tied the game at 16:45 in the opening stanza with a shot from the right point. Murphy’s shot found its way through the five-hole of Stars goaltender Mike McKenna (22 saves) for his third goal of the season. Registering assists on the play was forwards Colton Beck and Cal O’Reilly.
Through the first period, the two teams were tied 1-1 but Texas held a 10-6 shot advantage.
Defenseman Zach Palmquist gave the Wild a lead with a seeing-eye shot from the slot at 8:41 in the second period. With multiple Stars players blocking McKenna’s view, Palmquist corralled a loose puck between the circles and rifled a shot under McKenna’s glove. Defenseman Alex Grant and forward Justin Kloos earned assists on the play.
Stars winger Brian Flynn kicked started a stretch where Texas scored three goals in 4:20 when he beat Michalek on the power play. Flynn, standing in front of Michalek, redirected a shot from forward Justin Dowling over Michalek’s glove to tie the game 2-2 at 14:30 in the period.
At 15:46 in the middle stanza, Stars defenseman Gavin Bayreuther gave Texas the lead, redirecting a shot from defenseman Matt Mangene. With Bayreuther crashing the net, Mangene threw the puck toward Michalek and his shot deflected off Bayreuther’s skate and into the back of the cage to take a 3-2 lead.
Gurianov capped off the scoring stretch when he potted his 11th of the season at 18:50 in the second period. He threw a puck on net from the left side of the zone, which hit Michalek’s glove, bounced off the crossbar crossed the goal line, giving the Stars a 4-2 lead.
After 40 minutes, Texas was winning 4-2 and had a 21-10 shot advantage.
Texas made it 5-2 when forward Sheldon Dries scored a short-handed goal on a breakaway at 11:36 in the third period, beating Michalek on his backhand.
With more than four minutes remaining, Michalek headed to the bench for an extra-skater and Iowa cut the lead to 5-3 at 18:09 in the final frame. Receiving a cross-ice pass from Grant, O’Reilly roofed a shot past the diving McKenna for his ninth of the season.
Stars forward Tommy Thompson added an empty-net goal at 18:47 and when the final horn sounded, Texas skated away with a 6-3 victory.
Iowa and Texas face off again for the third of four meetings this season Monday at Wells Fargo Arena. Puck drop is at 7:00 p.m.
The Iowa Wild 2017-18 season is presented by Mercy Medical Center and runs from October through April. For more information, please contact the Wild office by calling 515-564-8700 or by visiting www.iowawild.com.