DES MOINES, IA – Thomas Harley scored 2:17 into overtime on Monday night to give the Texas Stars a 3-2 victory over the Iowa Wild. The Stars twice took one-goal leads thanks to a pair of power-play goals. However, each time, Gabriel Dumont responded with tallies to tie the score. That forced overtime, where Harley delivered the game-winner giving Texas two wins during their three-game trip to Des Moines. Colton Point stopped 30 shots to earn the victory.
At 5:09, the Stars took their first lead of the game. While on the power-play, Texas was doing a great job of moving the puck around looking for a scoring opportunity. Ryan Shea passed the puck to Riley Damiani, who was near the left faceoff circle. Damiani quickly fed it to Tye Felhaber in the slot, who fired the one-timer by Iowa netminder Dereck Baribeau for his second goal of the year.
About 10 minutes later, Dumont tied the score with his second goal of the year. Seconds after a power play expired for Iowa, Dmitry Sokolov passed the puck to Connor Dewar at the point. Dewar fired a shot that hit Dumont in the back, but Dumont had the presence to quickly locate the puck and fire it on net, beating Point.
In the second, Josh Melnick put Texas back on top just before the five-minute mark. The Stars had the man advantage when Ben Gleason gained control of the puck at the point. He dished it to Melnick, who was just inside the right faceoff circle. Melnick fired a quick wrist shot that beat Baribeau over the glove for his first goal of the year to make it 2-1.
The one-goal lead held into the third period. It had been a tight-checking affair through the first two periods with the Stars outshooting Iowa, 16-15. However, things picked up in the third. Both teams stepped up their game as the Wild recorded one more shot in the final period than they had in the first two frames combined.
That helped lead to an Iowa goal that tied the score. Just before the eight-minute mark, a bad giveaway landed right on the stick of Dumont in the slot. He gave Point a little head fake before firing a wrist shot that beat the Texas netminder just under the glove for his second goal of the game.
That sent the game to overtime, where the Stars received a lucky break. Harley carried the puck into the Wild zone looking to swoop behind the net, but he decided to try to pass the puck in front just before he headed behind the goal. The puck wound up hitting off the back of Baribeau’s skate and into the net to give Texas the victory. It was the first goal of the season for Harley.
Baribeau (1-0-1) finished with 27 saves. The penalty-killing unit struggled again, allowing two goals in five chances. The Wild have now allowed five power-play goals in 16 opportunities (68.8%). The 16 penalties are the most in the AHL.
The overtime loss dropped the Wild to 1-1-1. They continue their four-game homestand on Saturday when they welcome the Rockford IceHogs. The puck drops at 6:00.
