Stars end three game skid
March 28, 2008 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Iowa Chops News Release
The Stars fell behind early but came back to win 4-1 over the Quad City Flames. The Stars were previously 8-25-3 when giving up the first goal and just 2-4-2 against the Flames on the season. But neither of those stats mattered on a night in which Ray Sawada scored his first professional goal in his first professional game.
The Flames broke on the board first Friday night as Grant Stevenson beat Tobias Stephan on a centering feed from Krys Kolanos. The goal came on the powerplay after Stars forward Marty Sertich took a 2-minute penalty for interference. The Stars best chance of the period to score came just minutes after the Flames opening tally when James Neal skated through all four Quad City penalty killers before having the puck poked away at the last second by Curtis McElhinny, the Flames goalie.
Ray Sawada, who was added to the Stars roster just hours before the game made his pro debut, and waited just over 20 minutes into his first game to get his first marker. The Stars evened the score at 1-1, 2:45 into the 2nd period when Sawada pounded home a loose rebound for his first ever professional goal. One minute and fifty seconds later Marius Holtet gave the Stars' their first lead of the night as he beat McElhinny on the assist from Chris Conner. Ryan McGill, the Flames head coach, quickly pulled McElhinny after giving up his second goal in two minutes as he tried to wake his team up with them desperatley needing points to continue their playoff push.
The Stars goalie, Tobias Stephan, was bombarded with shots in the third period, 18, but kept the door closed on the Flames. With 21.4 Dan Jancevski gave the Stars an insurance marker as he scored on a 140 foot shot into an empty net. To add insult to injury the Stars scored once more with 0.1 remaining as Brett Westgarth fired another 140 foot shot into an empty net to give the Stars a 4-1 win.
The win was just the third of the season for the Stars over their division rival Quad City in 9 games. The win also snapped a 3 game losing streak for the Stars. They will be back in action tomorrow night against the Peoria Rivermen at 7:07 at Wells Fargo Arena.
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