Stars Weekly

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


THE STARS TELESCOPE ¡V A LOOK AHEAD

Friday, March 7

Stars at Chicago Wolves 7:30 pm CST

Allstate Arena, Rosemont, Illinois

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

The Stars face the Wolves for the eighth and final time this season and will be looking to wrap up the season series with a win. The Stars are 1-6 this season versus the Wolves and 1-2 at Allstate Arena. That lone win came on Dec. 1 in Rosemont in a third period 3-2 comeback. The Wolves won all four games between the teams at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. In the teams¡¦ most recent meeting on Feb. 24 at Chicago, the Wolves scored two power play goals to build a 3-0 lead and then held on for a 3-1 win. The Wolves are coming off a 4-1 home win over Eastern Conference-leading Providence on Saturday and are 11-1-1-1 in their last 14 games. Their lead in the West Division is now a commanding 11 points with 21 games remaining on their schedule. This game is game number four of the Stars¡¦ current six-game road trip. The Stars return to action after taking two of three games over the weekend at Hamilton, Toronto and Rochester.

Sunday, March 9

Stars at Rockford IceHogs 4:05 pm CDT

MetroCentre, Rockford, Illinois

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

This will be the second of four visits for the Stars to the Rockford MetroCentre. The Stars won that first ever trip to Rockford on Jan. 26 2-1. That win was also the first for the Stars over Rockford this season with the IceHogs having won the three games at Wells Fargo Arena. The Stars and Icehogs will play once more in Des Moines on March 29. The Icehogs have struggled of late, going 3-9-1-1 in their last 14 games. Their recent difficulty and Chicago¡¦s recent surge has dropped the Icehogs 11 points behind the first place Wolves and now just two points above third place San Antonio.

Tuesday, March 11

Stars vs. Lake Erie Monsters 7:07 pm CDT

Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines, IA

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

This game is the fourth and final one against the Monsters this season and is also the Stars¡¦ final game this season against a non-west division foe. The Stars close the season with 14 games against divisional opponents. The Stars are 2-1 in the season series so far with those two wins coming in Cleveland back in October. The Monsters won the first and only meeting at Wells Fargo Arena 3-2 on October 27. The Monsters enter this week in 6th place in the North Division with a 20-28-4-7 record and are 1-5-0-0 in their last six games.

STARS RECAP

Sunday, March 2

Stars 3 @ Rochester 5

Marc-Andre Gragnani and Dylan Hunter each scored two goals to lead the Rochester Americans to a 5-3 win over the Iowa Stars Sunday night in Rochester, NY. The loss gave the Stars a 2-1 record for the weekend. For the Americans, the win snapped a three game losing streak. The Stars started fast with Toby Petersen netting his team leading 21st goal of the season just 26 seconds into the game on assists from Chris Conner and Konstantin Pushkarev. The Americans tied the game 2:33 later on Gragnani¡¦s first of the night. Pushkarev put the Stars back up by a goal off the rebound of a Perttu Lindgren shot at 6:41 of the first. Unfortunately, that would be the Stars final goal until late in the game, as the Americans scored five unanswered to take a 5-2 lead. Lindgren scored with 1:16 to close out the scoring and to make the final 5-3. The Stars went one for eight on the power play while the Americans converted on all three of their chances. Saturday, March 1

Stars 5 @ Toronto 4 (SO)

James Neal scored in the final minute of regulation to force overtime and then clinched it with his conversion in the seventh round of the shootout in the Iowa Stars 5-4 win over the Toronto Marlies Saturday night in Toronto. The Stars fell behind 2-0 in the first period, but scored three straight to claim a 3-2 lead going into the third period. The Marlies came back with two of their own to put the Stars on thin ice late in the game, down by one with under a minute left. With an empty net and extra attacker, Chris Conner found Neal from behind the net for the equalizer at 19:21. Marty Sertich, Toby Petersen and Konstantin Pushkarev also scored for the Stars while Conner finished with two assists. Steve Silverthorn started, was replaced by Tobias Stephan after the Marlies first two goals, but returned to start the second period. He played the rest of the way to claim the win. The Stars outshot the Marlies 32-30 for the game.

Friday, February 29

Stars 6 @ Hamilton 0

Six different players scored and Tobias Stephan collected his seventh career shutout to lead the Iowa Stars to a 6-0 win over the Hamilton Bulldogs in Hamilton Friday night. The win snapped the Stars¡¦ four-game winless streak while also ending the Bulldogs¡¦ eight-game point streak. Marty Sertich and Konstantin Pushkarev scored in the first period to give the Stars a 2-0 advantage heading into the first break. Sertich¡¦s goal was his team co-leading 19th of the season while Pushkarev¡¦s goal broke a 15 game streak without a goal. The Stars amassed a season-high 19 shots on goal in the first period compared to the Bulldogs¡¦ 10. For the game, the Stars outshot the home team 42-23. The Stars broke the game open with markers from James Neal, Trevor Byrne and Tom Wandell in the second period. Chris Lee rounded out the scoring with a power play goal late in the third period. Neal added two assists to his goal for his first professional three-point game. B.J. Crombeen finished with two assists. Byrne and Sertich also each contributed an assist to finish with two points on the night. Stephan made 23 saves for his AHL leading sixth shutout of the season. The Stars¡¦ power play converted on two of their three chances.

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

STARS PROMOTIONS/APPEARANCES:

„± Monday, March 3 & 10 ¡V Jim Erickson hosts the Stars Power Play from Scooter & Babs live from 7-8 PM on KRNT 1350 AM.

„± Friday, March 14 ¡V Season Ticket Holder bus trip to Quad City, call your account representative for more information at 23-STARS

„± Saturday, March 15 ¡V Pink in the Rink!

„± Tuesday, March 18 ¡V Stars players visit Perry Public Library from 6:30 to 7:30 PM



American Hockey League Stories from March 4, 2008


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