DES MOINES, IA - The Iowa Stars and the Chicago Wolves met for the second time in a week and the sixth time overall on Tuesday night at Wells Fargo Arena. The Stars, playing their first game in a week, lost 7-3 to the West Division-leading Wolves.
The Chicago Wolves jumped-out to an early one goal lead just :50 seconds into the opening period when rookie Left Wing Brett Sterling potted his team-leading 22nd goal of the season. Chicago grabbed a 2-0 lead at 10:57 when Colin Stuart potted his fifth of the season. Defenseman Nathan Oystrick earned his second assist of the game on the goal.
Unfortunately, the game's middle stanza began similar to the game's opening frame. Chicago's Corey Larose was alone in front of the net and roofed a shot high over a sprawling Tobias Stephan. Larose's third of the season came just :43 seconds into the period. Forward Darren Haydar pushed his points-streak to 27 games with an assist. Brett Sterling registered his second goal of the game when he was able to collect a rebound off the end-wall and deposit the puck into a vacated Iowa Stars goal. That goal came at the 1:31 mark of the middle period. Marius Holtet put the Iowa Stars on the board shortly thereafter. Streaking up the right boards, Holtet collected a pass from Defenseman Mark Ardelan and fired a slap-shot from just inside the blueline that beat Chicago netminder Fred Brathwaite at 5:58. No more than :36 seconds later, Larose nabbed his second of the game and ended the night for Tobias Stephan in the Iowa goal. Iowa Head Coach Dave Allison replaced Stephan with Dan Ellis. Shortly before the period came to a close, Larose became the first opposing player to notch a hat-trick against the Stars this season. Larose's third goal of the game came with 1:09 left in the second period.
Just back from his National Hockey League (NHL) debut with the Dallas Stars this past Friday night, Iowa's Chris Conner made the score 6-2. Taking a pass from Marius Holtet, Mario Scalzo fired a shot from the blueline that was redirected by Conner for a power-play goal. Conner's sixth of the season came at 2:27 of the third. Chicago regained their five-goal lead at 15:50. With Iowa on a five-on-three, Joel Lundqvist recorded his eighth goal of the season. Lundqvist, also just back from Dallas, scored with :57 seconds left in the game.
Iowa Goaltenders Tobias Stephan and Dan Ellis faced 15 shots and 13 shots, respectively. Stephan was saddled with the loss.
Chicago's Darren Haydar finished the game with four assists, while Corey Larose tallied three goals and two assists.
Shots: IOWA: 31; CHICAGO: 28; Attendance: 4,735
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IOWA STARS INFO: The Stars play their next four on the road and return to Wells Fargo Arena on Friday, December 22nd. The Dec. 22nd game is a 4 for $40 night. Get four $21 tickets for only $40! In addition, the first 1,000 fans will receive a FREE Iowa Stars Santa hat. Doors open for all home games one hour before face-off. Bring a group or hold your child's birthday at a Stars game! All ticketing information can be obtained by calling 515-23-STARS or by visiting IowaStarsHockey.com.