AHL Report: Offensive surge fueling Texas Stars

The Texas Stars are on a bit of a roll.
The Stars swept a two-game series from Milwaukee last week to give themselves a three-game winning streak and a 5-1-0 record over their past six games.
Texas, which is 12-9-2 on the season, has been racking up the goals as well. The Stars have scored 54 goals over their past 12 games (4.5 per game) and lead the AHL in scoring at 3.91 per game. Texas also ranks second on the power play at 27.6 percent.
The usual suspects were chipping in this week: Denis Gurianov, Joel L'Esperance, Adam Mascherin, Erik Condra, and Justin Dowling. And Roope Hintz scored a game-winner in his first game back from the NHL.
Here's the latest on the AHL affiliate of the Dallas Stars.

Wednesday, December 5: Texas 5, Milwaukee 1

L'Esperance scored two goals and Gurianov tallied one goal and two assists as the Stars defeated Milwaukee, 5-1, at H-E-B Center on Wednesday.
Mascherin and Colin Markison also scored for Texas, and Landon Bow stopped 29 of 30 shots. Condra notched an assist to extend his point streak to nine games.
Gurianov staked the Stars to a 1-0 lead in the first period, and L'Esperance scored two goals and Markison also found the back of the net in the second as the Stars built a 4-0 lead through 40 minutes. Mascherin made it a 5-0 game in the third before the Admirals spoiled Bow's shutout bid with 13:07 remaining in the game.

Friday, Dec 7: Texas 3, Milwaukee 2

Hintz's goal midway through the second period snapped a 2-2 tie and held up as the game-winner as Texas defeated Milwaukee, 3-2, in Cedar Park on Friday. Hintz, who was playing his first game since being assigned to Texas from Dallas, scored from close range off the rush.
"We have a good team here," Hintz told reporters after the game. "They are playing really good, and it is easy to hop in."
Dowling and Niklas Hansson scored early in the first period to put the Stars up before the Admirals rallied to tie the game, tallying once in the first and then early in the second before Hint's tallied the game-winner. Condra assisted on Hansson's goal to push his points streak to ten games.
Bow stopped 31 of 33 shots to get the win in net.

Hintz returns to Texas

Dallas sent Hintz back to the AHL last week after center Martin Hanzal was cleared to play and came off injured reserve. Hintz played nine games in this latest call-up to the NHL, registering two goals and one assist. He has three points (two goals, one assist) in 14 NHL games this season.
Dallas coach Jim Montgomery discussed Hintz's assignment to the AHL late last week.
"With Hanzal coming back, we just thought at this stage in his career it's better for him to play games," Montgomery said. "We thought he was a lot better this time, this stint than the first stint. But to increase his consistency and to be hard to play against every night is something he still needs to achieve to be an everyday NHLer."
Hintz, who scored Friday in his first game back with Texas, has scored a goal in each of his last four AHL games. He has 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in 10 AHL games this season.

Prospect spotlight

Texas lineup

Denis Gurianov - Justin Dowling - Adam Mascherin
Travis Morin - Joel L'Esperance - Erik Condra
Nick Caamano - Roope Hintz - Michael Mersch
Sam Laberge - Colton Hargrove - Colin Markison
Dillon Heatherington - Niklas Hansson
Shane Hanna - Ben Gleason
John Nyberg - Brady Norrish
Landon Bow
Philippe Desrosiers

Upcoming schedule

Wednesday, Dec. 12: Iowa at Texas, 7 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 14:Texas at Milwaukee, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 15:Texas at Rockford, 6 p.m.

Idaho Steelheads

The Idaho Steelheads went 1-1-0 last week, are now 12-9-3 on the season and sit in fourth place in the ECHL's Mountain Division. After a 5-7-3 start to the season, the Steelheads are 7-2-0 in their past nine games.
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mark Stepneski has covered the Stars for DallasStars.com since 2012. Follow him on Twitter @StarsInsideEdge.