Stars Split Two with Griffins

February 4, 2008 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Iowa Chops News Release


THE STARS TELESCOPE - A LOOK AHEAD

Friday, Feb. 8

Stars vs Chicago Wolves

Wells Fargo Arena, 7:07 PM

Broadcasts: Jim Erickson online and on B2 Video at iowastarshockey.com as well as in-arena on 104.7 FM.

The Stars face the Chicago Wolves for the fifth time this season and the third at Wells Fargo Arena. The Wolves have won each of the first two games in Des Moines, while the Stars have taken one of the two played at All State Arena in Rosemont, IL. The Stars are coming off a home weekend split with the Grand Rapids Griffins. The Wolves also split two games last weekend returning from the AHL All-Star Break, dropping a 5-4 game at Milwaukee on Friday followed by a 4-2 victory over first place Rockford on home ice on Saturday. The Wolves enter this week with a record of 32-13-1-0 and in second place in the West Division. They trail Rockford by three points, but have four games in hand. The Wolves started the season on a tear by going 13-0-1-0 in their first 14 games and 17-2-1-0 in their first 20 games. Since then, their record is 15-11-0-0. The Stars are in eighth position in the West at 22-24-2-2, three points behind seventh place Quad City and six points out of a possible playoff spot. All-time, the Stars are 13-11-0-0 against the Wolves, 6-6-0-0 at Wells Fargo Arena. Jason Krog leads the Wolves, not to mention the entire league, entering this week with 67 points on 22 goals and 45 assists. After Friday, the Stars next see the Wolves on February 22 at Wells Fargo Arena.

Saturday, Feb. 9

Stars vs Peoria Rivermen

Wells Fargo Arena, 7:07 PM

Broadcasts: Jim Erickson online and on B2 Video at iowastarshockey.com as well as in-arena on 104.7 FM.

The Stars and Rivermen continue their 10-game season series with meeting number seven on Saturday at Wells Fargo Arena. The Rivermen have surged to contender status for the West Division title with their recent success. Since losing to the Stars in Peoria on December 30, the Rivermen have gone 13-3-1-0 and enter this week four points behind the first place Ice Hogs in the division. In the season series, the Stars are 4-2-0-0, although the Rivermen won the most recent tangle between the teams 3-1 on January 25 in Des Moines and are 2-0-0-1 on the Stars' home ice. All-time, the Stars own a 13-11-0-2 record against Peoria, 5-7-0-1 at Wells Fargo Arena. Iowa All-Star Toby Petersen has five goals and four assists in the six games versus Peoria this season. Trent Whitfield leads the Rivermen against the Stars this season with his four goals and five assists. Jean-Guy Trudel has also posted six goals in the six games, four of those coming in the December 15 game in Des Moines. Saturday's game closes out a stretch that has seen the Stars play 11 of 12 at home. Beginning next Tuesday at Manitoba, the Stars play 10 of 13 games on the road.

STARS RECAP

Saturday, February 2

Grand Rapids 3 Stars 2 @ Wells Fargo Arena

The Iowa Stars could not hang on to a 2-0 lead as they fell to the Grand Rapids Griffins 3-2 at Wells Fargo Arena. The Stars would strike first on a power play goal by Marty Serich at 3:46 into the period off assists from Konstantin Pushkarev and Nolan Baumgartner. Chris Conner put the Stars up by two with a goal at 11:11. Conner collected a rebound off of a Perttu Lindgren shot and beat Griffins goaltender Adam Berkhoel glove-side. Defenseman Chris Lee also picked up a helper on the power play goal. Penalties reigned in the game; the two teams compiled 8 penalties in the first period after having just 6 total in Friday night's entire game. The two teams would finish with 30 total penalty minutes between them. The first three goals of the game came on the power play. The Griffins' Mark Hartigan eventually snuck one past Stars net minder Tobias Stephan on the power play at 16:27. Two goals were scored in the second period, both by Grand Rapids. The tough physical play continued but the Griffins took advantage of opportunities late as Randall Gelech and Darren Helm were able to beat Stephan up high. The Stars outshot the Griffins 31 to 23, but would still find themselves on the wrong end of the scoreboard.

Friday, February 1

Stars 3 Grand Rapids 0 @ Wells Fargo Arena

The Iowa Stars picked up their 22nd win on the season with a 3-0 shutout victory over the Grand Rapids Griffins at Wells Fargo Arena on Friday night. Tobias Stephan stopped 32 shots by the Griffins to earn his third shutout of the season; the fourth of his career with Iowa. The Griffins outshot the Stars 15 to 7 in the first period, with neither team being able to capitalize on opportunities in the zone. The first goal of the game came from Stars rookie Richard Clune off assists from defenseman Jussi Timonen and fellow rookie Tom Wandell at 9:27 in the second. The goal was Clune's third of the season after he scored his first ever AHL professional goal just two weeks earlier. The Stars came out strong in the third period registering 10 shots on goal to the Griffins' five. Janos Vas found the back of the net on a shorthanded opportunity with assists from Konstantin Pushkarev and Timonen. Pushkarev now has a point in four of the last five Stars games, while Timonen registered his first multipoint game since November. It would be Perttu Lindgren, the Stars second leading scorer in the month of January, who scored the final goal for Iowa. Lindgren received a pass from behind the net from Chris Conner and was able to power it past Grand Rapids goaltender Jimmy Howard with less than six minutes to go in the game.

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

STARS PROMOTIONS/APPEARANCES:

Þ Monday, Feb. 4 - Jim Erickson hosts the Stars Power Play All-Star Edition from Scooter & Babs live from 7-8 PM on KRNT 1350 AM.

Þ Monday, Feb. 4 - Join Iowa Stars players at the Adel Library at 6:30 PM to hear about their hockey stories and learn about their equipment. They will even sign autographs!

Þ Tuesday, Feb. 5 - Listen to Trevor Byrne, Marius Holtet and Brett Westgarth on Des Moines Radio Group stations, 93.3 KIOA, LAZER 103.3 and STAR 102.5 beginning at 8:00 AM.

Þ Wednesday, Feb. 6 - Iowa Stars players will visit the Southside Library at 4:00 PM and the Waukee Library at 7:00 PM. Join the Stars at the library for fun hockey stories and get to play with their equipment. The Stars will also be signing autographs as well!



American Hockey League Stories from February 4, 2008


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