Texas Stars Prepping for First Road Test of Season
*Edited by: Allie Foster --> @mustang_sallie
CEDAR PARK - The Texas Stars take to the road this week after winning three out of a possible four points in their opening-week homestand. The Stars were victorious in game one of 76, knocking off the Grand Rapids Griffins 3-1 on Friday before falling to the Milwaukee Admirals 4-3 in overtime on Friday night.
The Stars face the Iowa Wild on Friday in Des Moines, the Rockford IceHogs on Saturday, and the Griffins on Wednesday. Head coach Derek Laxdal is taking advantage of the lengthy gap in between game action with practices set on fixing some of the more glaring issues identified last weekend.
"The big thing for us is trying to get better in the certain areas that we've identified as a group," Laxdal said on Wednesday before Texas departed for the midwest. "Obviously, all areas of the game can get stronger...we've got some good practice [time] here in October and November, so we just have to make sure we take full advantage of them."
Amid a move from the Pacific Division to the Central Division this offseason, this will be the first road trip for the Stars as part of the eight-team Central. Facing Iowa, Rockford, and Grand Rapids right out of the gate will pay dividends for the young team moving forward.
"It's a little bit of a team builder, that first road trip," Laxdal said. "It's good to get away and start to gel as a team. It's also a good experience for the young kids, understanding what the road schedule and what the American Hockey League schedule entails. It's a grind."
Stars second-year defenseman Gavin Bayreuther, who was +1 with three shots on goal last weekend, echoes Laxdal's sentiments. "Road trips are where you learn the most about your teammates, but also it's harder to get up for games and have success on the road," Bayreuther said. "We have to come out hard and start the year off strong on the road."
The Dallas Stars prospect continues: "Sometimes, myself included, you get into it too much [on the road] and bad things happen. When you start simple and ease your way in, you're helping your team."
SIZING UP THE OPPONENTS: Iowa had a highly successful opening weekend. Outscoring the Manitoba Moose 12-2 in two games (4-1 on Friday, 8-1 on Sunday), Iowa took all four points from their season-opening series. Defenseman Ryan Murphy and left winger Mason Shaw are pacing the roster with three points each.
"They're a speedy team, a small-statured team that skates well, they have some good skill, they can score." Laxdal said. "It's going to be a really good test for us and that first game is going to be really important."
Texas will refresh some good memories with their trip to Rockford for Saturday's matchup. The Stars eliminated Rockford in the Western Conference Final to take the Conference championship last Spring on their way to narrowly missing the Calder Cup.
Rockford fell in both of their opening-weekend matches on the road against Cleveland. The Monsters took game one by a 4-1 final score and game two, 5-2. Tyler Sikura, Matthew Highmore and Lucas Carlsson lead the club with two games finished and all have a goal a piece.
The Griffins are a more familiar opponent, having come to Cedar Park for opening weekend festivities and falling to the Stars 3-1.
Grand Rapids, who welcomed dangerous 2018 first-rounder Filip Zadina to the roster last week, sit at 0-2-0-0 on the year, being outscored 7-1 over the first two games. Right winger Matthew Ford has tallied the only Griffins goal this season, while center Wade Megan has landed a team-high seven shots on goal.
LINEUP REPORT: Texas didn't have much change in their roster from Friday to Saturday. Forwards Samuel Laberge (Friday's lineup) and Tony Calderone (Saturday's) swapped places, while defenseman Niklas Hansson scored a goal in his season debut on Saturday in filling the void left by the injured Reece Scarlett (lower-body).
Travis Morin is back to playing center after leading the league in assists last season from the left wing. In Saturday's loss, Morin centered heralded Stars prospects Nicholas Caamano and Adam Mascherin.
Goaltenders Bow and rookie Colton Point will likely split time on the road trip. It makes sense to give a game on Friday and Saturday to each netminder and award the Wednesday game to the weekend's better performer.
Here's the full lineup from Saturday:
Denis Gurianov - Justin Dowling - Michael Mersch Caamano - Morin - Mascherin Colton Hargrove - Joel L'Esperance - Erik Condra Colin Markison - James Phelan - Calderone
Dillon Heatherington - Bayreuther John Nyberg - Joel Hanley Ben Gleason - Hansson
Point Bow
LOOKING AHEAD: The Stars return to HEB Center at Cedar Park for four games starting on Friday, October 19, when they host the Wild in back to back evenings. The Chicago Wolves and San Jose Barracuda travel to the Austin area for Friday and Saturday night games, respectively, the following weekend.
Whether the Stars come back to Central Texas with a successful road trip under their belts remains to be seen, but as Bayreuther describes, they'll give the three road trip opponents a challenge with their speed and energy. "We have a lot of young guys but I think that just brings energy to our team," the St. Lawrence University product says. "We have a great team and I'm excited to see what this team has.”
