The Rockford IceHogs came into the Western Conference Final on a seven-game winning streak, but they were unable to keep the good times up as they fell 4-2 to the Texas Stars in Game 1 of the best-of-seven series.
Carl Dahlstrom and Chris DiDomenico each had goals for the IceHogs, but it wasn’t enough as they dropped a game for the first time in the postseason.
The Stars got the scoring started early in the first period, as Curtis McKenzie fired home a shot just 4:22 into the contest to give his team a 1-0 lead. The IceHogs responded on a power play later in the period, as Dahlstrom scored his third goal of the postseason to knot things up at 1-1.
Just over a minute later, Roope Hintz scored to give Texas back the lead at 2-1. Early in the second, DiDomenico scored his fifth of the playoffs to tie things back up at 2-2.
Unfortunately for the IceHogs, they couldn’t keep up with Texas’ offense, as Remi Elie scored about nine minutes into the second period, and Sheldon Dries scored a critical insurance goal in the third period to pad the Stars’ lead.
The IceHogs will have a shot to tie the series on Sunday when they battle the Stars in Game 2 of the series. Puck drop is set for 5 p.m.
