Texas Stars Report: Starting Out Strong

For the Texas Stars (1-0-0-0, 2 pts, #4 Western), it was a great opening weekend.  With only one game on the schedule in the first week of the season, this week's Texas Stars Report will be predictably shorter than usual.

Stars Blast OKC Barons 7-0 in Home Opener

Texas faced off against the Oklahoma City Barons (Edmonton Oilers) in their home and season opener at the Cedar Park Center on Sunday night.  It didn't take the Stars long to get on the board.  Texas scored just 67 seconds into the game off the stick of Maxime Fortunus en route to a 7-0 shellacking of the Barons.

"They played phenomenally," said Coach Pyle. "They played hard for 60 minutes and didn't change their game."

Rookie Matt Fraser picked his first and second professional goals and added an assist. Not to be outdone, his roommate Brenden Dillon added three assists of his own.  Other goal scorers included Jordie Benn, Dan Spang, Tyler Arnason and Luke Gazdic.  Texas went 4-for-8 on the power play, and Richard Bachman picked up a shutout with a 21 save effort.

Despite the score, Coach Pyle still feels like there are things to work on, "You can't break your arms patting each other on the back. I still have a lot of work to do, but it's a good group to do that work with. It's just good to be a part of it."

The Week Ahead

Texas will stay in town to face the defending Western Conference champion Houston Aeros (Minnesota Wild) on Friday.  The Stars will then travel to Oklahoma City to take on the Barons again on Saturday.

Injuries

Mathieu Tousignant has missed all Texas Stars camp and game activities with a lower body issue.

You can always follow the Texas Stars by reading my blog at 100DegreeHockey.com, following me on Twitter @100degreehockey, or becoming a fan on Facebook.