IOWA’S THIRD PERIOD RALLY STYMIED BY TEXAS IN 6-4 DEFEAT
Feb 16, 2024CEDAR PARK, Texas – The Iowa Wild mounted a furious comeback bid to tie Friday night’s game but ultimately suffered a 6-4 defeat to the Texas Stars. Adam Beckman (2-0=2), Steven Fogarty (1-1=2), and Nic Petan (0-2=2) each posted two points for the Wild.
Texas outshot Iowa 9-8 in a scoreless first period.
The Stars broke the deadlock 34 seconds into the middle frame when Kyle McDonald slid his slot chance between the pads of Jesper Wallstedt (24 saves).
Mavrik Bourque extended the lead to 2-0 at 8:10 when he buried a one-timer from the left circle.
Texas widened the advantage to three goals 1:14 later when Matej Blumel fired a point shot that deflected in off Derrick Pouliot at the side of the net.
Iowa responded with 2:42 to play in the second. Kevin Conley laid a hit along the end wall that freed the puck up for Steven Fogarty, who followed up his jam chance to narrow the margin to 3-1.
Texas outshot Iowa 23-17 through 40 minutes.
The Wild pulled back within a goal at the 6:03 mark of the third. Sammy Walker and Petan executed a give-and-go play that saw Walker slash to the front of the net and chip a forehand shot over the glove of Matthew Murray (33 saves). Daemon Hunt also earned an assist on the goal.
Texas restored the two-goal lead 2:36 later when Blumel converted a breakaway chance.
Beckman evened the game with a pair of goals 2:05 apart. Beckman scored his first at 13:31 on the power play when Petan and Fogarty combined to set him up on the backdoor for a tap-in finish past Murray.
Beckman tied the contest with an individual effort when he knocked a puck forward on a face off and beat Murray under the blocker.
Pouliot put Texas up 5-4 with four minutes to play when he corralled a centering pass from Fredrik Karlstrom and worked around Wallstedt.
Karlstrom scored on the empty net with 28 seconds remaining to cap the scoring.
Iowa posted 20 shots in the third period and outshot Texas 37-30. The Wild were 1-for-3 with the man advantage while the Stars went 1-for-1 on the power play.
Iowa and Texas face off again at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park on Saturday at 7 p.m.
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