CEDAR PARK, Texas — The Texas Stars clinched a spot in the AHL’s Calder Cup playoffs with a convincing 5-0 win over the Chicago Wolves in front of a national audience on the NHL network. The first year team played what was probably their best game of the season, totally dominating the Wolves from start to finish. The Stars are 5-1 on their current 7-game road trip, with one game remaining in Milwaukee. The Stars then head home for four games before ending their inaugural season in Houston against the Aeros. Eleven Stars earned points in the game while helping goaltender Brent Krahn to his 5th shutout of the season. Colton Sceviour, Travis Morin, Mathieu Tousignant, Luke Gazdic and Francis Wathier all scored goals, while Aaron Gagnon, Pertu Lindgren, Mathieu Beaudoin, Sceviour, Ray Sawada, Ethan Graham and Warren peters, combined for seven assists. Krahn stopped 36 shots. The win, their second in a row against the first place Wolves, moved the Stars to within six points of the lead in the Western conference’s West division with six games to go for each team. While finishing first isn’t an impossible task, it may be difficult to catch the Wolves. Texas will have their hands full trying to hold on to second place and that all-important home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs. The Stars are just five points ahead of Rockford, but have a game in hand. They close out their regular season home schedule against the tough IceHogs. Hopefully, by then the Stars will have clinched at least a second place finish. The team continues to work hard under the leadership of first year Head Coach Glen Gulutzan and Assistant Coach Paul Gerrard. Their work ethic continues to pay high dividends. A team that was designed primarily around good defense, added some offensive pop in the last half of the season. The team is scoring an average three goals per game and giving up only an average of 2.4 goals per game. Only the Hamilton bulldogs have given up fewer goals per game (2.2). Many exapnsion teams would be happy just to finish the year above 500. But the Stars sent the message from day one that they would be a force to reckon with. They led the division for nearly two months, but faltered a bit when Krahn was injured and missed over 100 days. They were slowed, but not stopped. Their recent streak of winning 12 of their last 15 games, including back to back wins against the Woves, definitely sends a reminder to the rest of the league that, first year team or not, they are a force to be reckoned with. Contact the writer at: mitch.cooper@prohockeynews.com
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