Gust Strikes Twice, Hogs Fall to Stars at Home

Rockford, Ill. – The Rockford IceHogs mounted a comeback but fell short to the Texas Stars in a 5-3 defeat at the BMO Center on Wednesday night. Forward David Gust notched two goals for the Hogs, including a late third-period tally to cut the Stars’ lead to one, but rookie goaltender Remi Poirier and Texas hung on to claim victory.

Getting the action started, Rockford jumped out to a 1-0 lead early in the first period. Forward Luke Philp directed a centering pass to Gust from the goal line, and the all-star forward fired a wrister past Texas goalie Remi Poirier from the slot at 1:49.

Texas answered back halfway through the initial frame when Stars forward Jacob Peterson was waiting in the slot and chipped in the rebound of Matej Blumel’s shot from the right circle at 9:59, tying the contest 1-1.

The Stars took a 2-1 advantage later in the first period when Michael Karow centered a puck that deflected off Texas forward Riley Tufte’s skate and into the net at 15:39. Tufte and Rockford’s Alec Regula were engaged in front of the net when the disc redirected off Tufte and past IceHogs goaltender Arvid Soderblom.

Forward Michal Teply tallied the lone goal of the second stanza, tying the contest 2-2 at 5:29. After a Tic-Tac-Toe passing sequence from forward D.J. Busdeker and Josiah Slavin, Teply fired a shot that deflected off the stick of Texas forward Riley Damiani past Poirier for his sixth goal of the season.

Taking a 3-2 lead at the midpoint of the final frame, Texas forward Fredrik Karlstrom punched in a pass from Peterson at the right point at 10:11, and forward Riley Barber extended the lead to 4-2 at 15:24 after burying a wrister behind Soderblom from the edge of the left circle.

Fighting back with an empty net and an extra skater, the IceHogs cut the Stars’ lead in half when Gust tallied his second goal of the night. Gust knocked in the rebound from defenseman Alex Vlasic’s shot from the left point and slashed Texas’ lead to 4-3 at 17:57; however, former Rockford forward Tanner Kero walked in an empty-netter at 19:25, dashing the Hogs’ attempt at a come from behind victory.

Soderblom turned away 26 of Texas’ 30 shots while Poirier marked 19 saves on 22 Rockford shots and earned the 5-3 win.

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