Wolves come up short against Stars
CEDAR PARK, Texas — The offense stalled and the Chicago Wolves fell to the Texas Stars 2-1 at Cedar Park Center on Friday night.
Wolves defenseman Jani Hakanpaa scored in the third period and goaltender Jake Allen made 24 saves, but it was not enough to overcome the Stars power play and Texas netminder Jack Campbell.
The Stars (15-8-2-2) received three straight power-play opportunities in the second period and cashed in on two to build what proved to be a commanding lead over the Wolves (12-11-0-2).
Left wing Mike Hedden needed just 28 seconds of the first man advantage to open scoring at 9:14 of the second period. Defenseman Jyrki Jokipakka fired a shot from the point that Hedden redirected past a screened Allen into the top corner.
The Wolves were victimized again at 13:37 while penalized for too many men on the ice. A shot from the left faceoff dot deflected in front of the net to center Travis Morin at the right circle, and he snapped a shot that evaded Allen’s glove short side.
Hakanpaa ruined Campbell’s shutout bid at 12:37 of the third period. The rangy Hakanpaa was set up by forwards Ty Rattie and Chris Porter and buried the puck behind Campbell to get the Wolves within a goal.
Campbell made 27 saves to improve to 4-0-0, while Allen fell to 10-7-2.