IOWA COMES FROM BEHIND TO BEAT TEXAS 5-3
Feb 26, 2021
The Iowa Wild (3-3-1-0, 7 pts.) came from behind to edge the Texas Stars (3-3-0-0, 6 pts.) 5-3 at H-E-B Center in Cedar Park, TX. Defenseman Calen Addison netted a pair of goals and forward Mitchell Chaffee recorded three assists in the win.
Iowa grabbed the first lead of the night at 13:05 of the opening period courtesy of forward Mitch McLain. After Chaffee’s shot careened off the right pad of Stars’ goaltender Colton Point (26 saves), McLain pounced to make it 1-0 Iowa. McLain’s second goal of the year came in his 100th AHL game, all of which he has played with the Wild.
Texas brought it back even less than two minutes later at 15:03 with a strike from forward Cole Schneider. Schneider got alone in front of the Iowa net and outwaited a sliding Wild goaltender Dereck Baribeau (33 saves) tying the game 1-1.
At the end of the first frame, the game was tied at 1-1 and the Wild outshot the Stars 18-6.
Texas took their first lead of the night at 2:10 of the second stanza after forward Derek Barach tapped in a back-door pass to make it 2-1 Stars.
The Wild found an answer at 7:12 of the second period off a two-on-one rush. Chaffee knocked a puck ahead at neutral ice for forward Connor Dewar who drove to the left circle and zipped a wrist shot past Point, tying the game 2-2.
The Stars jumped back out in front, 3-2, with a rebound finish from forward Adam Mascherin after Wild defenseman Josh Atkinson got tangled with Baribeau yielding an empty Wild net. Time of the goal was 17:29 and gave Texas the lead headed to intermission.
The Stars outshot the Wild 17-6 during the second period, which gave Iowa a 24-23 edge in total shots through 40 minutes. Texas carried a 3-2 lead into the final chapter of play.
Iowa struck right away to start the third period tying the game 3-3. Forward Gabriel Dumont fed a cross-ice pass to Addison at the right circle who snuck it through Point just 24 seconds into the period for his first career pro goal. Dumont’s assist was his 300th career AHL point and extended his league-leading point streak to seven games. Forward Mason Shaw notched the secondary assist on the tally.
For the first time since the opening period, Iowa took the lead, 4-3, with a power play goal from Addison at 11:02 of the third stanza. The blueliner’s second of the night labeled the top right corner of the net from inside the right circle, with the assist going to Chaffee.
With 16 seconds to play in the game and the Texas net empty, forward Will Bitten and Dumont combined to nurse the puck to center ice where Shaw went in alone to seal the win, 5-3.
The Stars outshot the Wild 13-7 in the third period and 36-31 in total for the game. Iowa’s power play was 1-2 on the evening while the Stars failed to convert on a pair of man-advantage opportunities.
Both teams meet again on Feb. 27 at H-E-B Center for a 7:00 p.m. CT puck drop to round out the weekend.
Iowa Wild hockey is presented by MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center. For more information, please visit www.iowawild.com
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