Stars Split in Texas and Drop One at Home

Published on December 10, 2007 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Iowa Chops News Release


THE STARS TELESCOPE - A LOOK AHEAD

Tue, Dec. 11 and Friday, Dec. 14 STARS @ Milwaukee Admirals

Bradley Center, Milwaukee, WI

7:00p.m. CST

Broadcasts: Jim Erickson online and on B2 Video at iowastarshockey.com.

The Stars will visit the Admirals for the second time this season after shutting them out 1-0 at Wells Fargo Arena back in October. The Stars (27 pts.) currently sit 1 point behind the Admirals (28 pts.) in the West Division standings. The Admirals (13-8-1-1) will meet the Stars coming off a 2-1 win at Toronto on Sunday while the Stars failed to battle back against the Rampage in San Antonio. The Stars have met Milwaukee three times already this season yet the Admirals lead the series 2-1. In their last meeting at Wells Fargo Arena, Stars goalie Tobias Stephan made 29 saves to register his second career shutout. At the time, the win snapped a four game home losing skid for the Stars and was the team's first shutout since April 1, 2007. Janos Vas scored the only goal the Stars would need on a pass from an attacking Konstantin Pushkarev at 4:16 of the third period. It was Vas' third of the season and ended the Admirals' streak of shutout hockey that stretched over 168 minutes. The Admirals outshot the Stars 29-18 for the game. Both teams were 0-2 on the power play.

Sat, Dec. 15 STARS vs. Chicago Wolves

Wells Fargo Arena

7:07 p.m. CST

Broadcasts: Jim Erickson online and on B2 Video at iowastarshockey.com.

The Stars travel home Friday night to meet the Division leading Chicago Wolves on Saturday at WFA. Last time the Stars met the Wolves in Chicago on December 1 the Stars finished the game with a 34-23 shots advantage as they battled back from deficits of 1-0 and 2-1. Junior Lessard put the Stars on the board in the second period with his seventh goal of the season. Petersen and Vas tallied their 13th and 10th goals of the season, respectively, in the third period. Vas' clinching goal came on the power play after the Stars were held scoreless in their first nine power play opportunities. They finished one for 10 while Chicago was two of six. Tobias Stephan stopped 21 Chicago shots to pick up his eighth win of the season and improve his career record to 2-4-0 versus the Wolves. In the other net, the Stars defeated Wolves goaltender Fred Brathwaite for the first time in seven games as he stopped 31 of 34 shots. The Wolves are currently in the midst of a 4-game skid in which they have suffered losses to not only the Stars, but also Manchester, Providence and Syracuse.

STARS RECAP

Tuesday, December 4

Stars 3 Manitoba 4 at Wells Fargo Arena

Manitoba snapped the Stars' three game win streak tonight at Wells Fargo Arena. The Moose answered all three Stars' goals in route to a 4-3 win. The Stars struck first Tuesday night in Des Moines. BJ Crombeen scored his first goal of the season with 11:41 remaining in the first period. Crombeen swiped the puck from the behind the Moose net, stepped in front and fired it past Drew MacIntyre, the Moose Goalie. Manitoba responded less than three minutes later with their first goal of the night. Jannik Hansen got the goal on assist from Mason Raymond and Nathan McIver to tie the score at 1 after one period. A pair of goals allowed the Moose to take the lead in the 2nd period, 3-2. The Moose scored an early powerplay goal to take their first lead of the night. Jason Jaffray was credited with the goal after his centering feed was redirected off Stars' defenseman, Bryce Lampman. The Stars would bounce back with a mid-period goal by Paul Szczechura. Vojtech Polak found Szczechura on an odd man rush at the 13:02 mark of the 2nd period, and Szczechura slid the puck between the near side pipe and the keeper. A slew of penalties, however, would put the Stars on the defensive for much of the second part of the period. And with just under six minutes to play in the period the Stars found themselves trapped in their own end after killing off a penalty, and ultimately gave up the third Manitoba goal of the game to Michael Grabner. The assists went to Brad Moran and Shaun Heshka. Junior Lessard notched the equalizer for the Stars just 1:09 into the 3rd period. Lessard received an outlet pass from Mark Fistric and proceeded to power his way through a double team in neutral ice, while being taken down just to the right of the Manitoba net minder, Lessard slipped the puck between MacIntyre's legs. The goal was Lessard's eighth of the season and tied the score at 3-3. But as they had done all night the Moose responded with a goal of their own. Jaffray scored his second on a redirection from the point. The goal came with more than 13 minutes to play in the 3rd period, but was more than the Stars could overcome, despite outshouting Manitoba 42-25.

Saturday, December 8

Stars 3 San Antonio 2 at AT&T Center

Marty Sertich scored with eight seconds left in regulation to tie the game while James Neal won it in overtime as the Iowa Stars picked up a 3-2 overtime win over the San Antonio Rampage in San Antonio Saturday night. Neal's game-winner represented the first time in the game that the Stars held the lead as they chased the Rampage all game long after falling behind 1-0 in the first period. Enver Lison scored the first goal of the game at 11:43, but the Stars didn't take long to even the score. Just 38 seconds later, B.J. Crombeen scored his second goal of the season, and second in as many nights, as he tipped in Mark Fistric's shot from the left point. The Rampage reclaimed the advantage at 18:08 of the first when David Spina found the back of the Stars' net. The score remained 2-1 until Sertich's equalizer. James Neal carried the puck to the front of goal. A frantic scramble in front of Rampage netminder Josh Tordjman followed, culminating with Sertich poking the puck in the net for his eighth of the season. Neal's deciding goal, his third of the season, came on a power play at 4:14 of the OT after the Stars had killed off a Rampage man-advantage. Phil Sauve, who saw action in 10 games with San Antonio last season, made his first start since November 24 and picked up his second win of the season over his old team with 19 saves on 21 shots.

Sunday, December 9

Stars 1 San Antonio 2 at AT&T Center

San Antonio goaltender David LeNeveu stopped 27 of 28 shots to lead the Rampage to a 2-1 win over the Iowa Stars Sunday evening in San Antonio. Chris Lee scored the only goal for the Stars. The lone goal of the first two periods was scored by the Rampage's Chris Durno. It came as the Stars were on a four minute power play and was his eighth of the season. It was also San Antonio's eight short-handed goal of the season. The Stars tied the came 50 seconds into the third period on Lee's fourth goal. Lee's one-timer from the right point came off of the ensuing face-off after a Rampage penalty put the Stars on the power-play. Toby Petersen and James Neal assisted. Joel Perrault would give his team the lead back with the eventual game-winning goal at 5:53. Stars goalie Tobias Stephan played well in defeat, allowing just the two goals on 30 shots. The Rampage outshot the Stars 30-28; marking the first time in the last five games the Stars have been outshot. The Stars also held the Rampage scoreless with the man-advantage, 0 for 4, for the second straight night.

IN THE COMMUNITY: Out and Around Des Moines & Neighboring Communities

STARS PROMOTIONS/APPEARANCES:

Þ Saturday, Dec. 15th - Pucks for Pups. Bring your dog to the game. First 100 dogs receive a free bandana.

Þ Saturday, Dec. 15th - Register to win a motorcycle from Street and Off-Road and 1350 KRNT AM.

Þ Saturday, Dec. 15th - Harvest and Winter Market. Visit Nolan Plaza for the Winter Farmers market and test out your slapshot

Þ Sunday, Dec. 16th - Season Ticket Holders' skate with the team and Santa from 2-4 PM

Þ Friday, Dec. 28th - Learn to Skate at Wells Fargo Arena. For Children 12 and under. $30 gets you skating lessons and two tickets to that Friday's game vs. The Peoria Rivermen.

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American Hockey League Stories from December 10, 2007


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