Texas is losing its chance to win first place in the Central Division. With two games remaining, it needed to help itself get an opportunity to win this week. Getting any points this week would set the Stars up for a competitive final week and a chance to secure a first-place spot going into the playoffs. Regardless, it needed to be a good week for team confidence.
In Friday’s game, against Grand Rapids, Texas continued to falter, dropping early in the first period. After going down 2-0 early in the second period, it took a Power Play, via a Cameron Hughes goal on the man-advantage, to find momentum, making it 2-1 Grand Rapids.
To tie the game 2-2 quickly. Jack Becker found the back of the net early in the third to tie the game 2-2 quickly, but Texas could not find the back of the net again despite outshooting Grand Rapids all game. The Griffins scored two late goals and an empty net marker to turn a 2-2 game into 5-2 by the buzzer, but the game was closer than the scoreline indicated. However, Texas earned 0 points from their efforts, falling out of first place in the Central Division.
In Saturday’s rematch, Kole Lind was on a mission. He took matters into his own hands, with one of his strongest offensive games of the season, tallying a hat-trick, including an empty-netter. Texas dominated on offense, out-shooting Grand Rapids 38-18, and came away with 2 points in revenge.
In Sunday’s finale (3 games in 3 days), Texas showed resilience despite obvious fatigue from the weekend schedule. Justin Ertel scored his 2nd of the season, and has shown great efforts in sheltered roles as a rookie this year. Kole Lind scored again in the third period, and Luke Krys fired home the empty-netter to beat a Chicago Wolves team on the rise 3-1. This was a considerable turnaround week, winning 2 of 3 games after a strict set of games last week.
Also, after a longer-than-expected adjustment period for Kole Lind this season in his first year in Texas, Lind has found quality individual offensive opportunities and capitalized to prove his worth in Texas’s top-six. This is the right time to heat up, and I’m happy for Lind to find success and play confidently because the talent is there, even while the production was not present at times.
Player of the week: Kole Lind
Week Stats:
GP | G | A | P |
|---|---|---|---|
3 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
Season Stats:
GP | G | A | P |
|---|---|---|---|
69 | 23 | 27 | 50 |
Overall, Texas is starting to figure things out with its new-look lineup. It’s great to see veteran players stepping up to set the tone offensively, and I look forward to a stronger Texas team next week in the last week of the regular season.
To clinch the Central Division, Texas must win both games, and Milwaukee needs to lose its last match. Milwaukee plays Chicago, which is a tough matchup compared to Texas's two-game series against Manitoba. It should be an exciting finish to the season.
Week ahead:
- Fri Apr 18, 2025 vs. Manitoba
- Sat Apr 19, 2025 vs. Manitoba