AHL Report: Texas Stars get back on track with weekend series sweep

The Texas Stars got back on track over the weekend, sweeping a home-and-home series with San Antonio.
The Stars, who outscored the Rampage 12-3 in the two victories, improved to 6-5-2 on the season. Texas received big contributions from some returning players including forwards Denis Gurianov and Justin Dowling, who both returned from stints in the NHL and defenseman Gavin Bayreuther, who was back after missing extended time with an injury.
Texas also got some help on defense with Dallas, acquiring Taylor Fedun in a trade with Buffalo.
Here's the latest on the AHL affiliate of the Dallas Stars.

Saturday, November 10: Texas 8, San Antonio 1

Texas snapped its four-game losing streak with an 8-1 rout of San Antonio Saturday night at H-E-B Center in Cedar Park. Erik Condra tallied three goals and one assist and Justin Dowling, playing his first game after his stint in the NHL, recorded one goal and three assists for the Stars, who jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first 15:56 of the game. Gavin Bayreuther, back from injury, had one goal and one assist. Joel L'Esperance and Colton Hargrove both had one goal and one assist as well, and Colin Markison also scored for the Stars. Landon Bow stopped 30 of 31 shots.

Sunday, November 11: Texas 4, San Antonio 1

The Stars made it a sweep of the home-and-home series with San Antonio, rallying from a 2-1 deficit in the third period to defeat the Rampage, 4-2, at AT&T Center Sunday afternoon. Travis Morin tied the game at 7:54 of the third with his first goal of the season and Roope Hintz put the Stars ahead, 3-2, with a power-play tally at the 10:19 mark. Denis Gurianov sealed the win with a late power-play goal. Colton Hargrove scored in the first period for Texas, and Landon Bow stopped 19 of 21 shots.

Prospect spotlight

‣ Defenseman Gavin Bayreuther returned to the Texas lineup Saturday after missing almost one month due to a lower-body injury and was impressive, tallying one goal and one assist in the game. He picked up an assist in the first minute to stake the Stars to a 1-0 lead and then scored on the power play later in the first to extend the lead to 4-0. Bayreuther coming back was a big boost to the Texas defense which has been depleted by injuries and call-ups to the NHL.
"He brought a lot of patience and poise to our backend," Texas coach Derek Laxdal told reporters after Saturday's game, "especially with him being the only guy with any experience back there. I thought the young kids fed off him well."
‣Denis Gurianov returned to the Texas Stars Sunday after a brief stint in the NHL and tallied one goal and one assist in Sunday's game in San Antonio, giving him 14 points (seven goals, seven assists) in his last ten games in the AHL. Gurianov played two games with Dallas in the NHL and scored his first career goal. He saw time in the top six while playing on a line with Jamie Benn and Jason Spezza.
"I thought he did good. I thought he showed he's on the cusp of being an NHL player," Dallas coachJim Montgomery said. "We had to send him back because of waiver issues and cap issues. He did well. Did he do enough to say we need to make room for him? I don't know if he did enough to do that. But it was good for him and his confidence, and it's good in his development for everybody in the organization to see that this is somebody we're going to be able to count on here."
‣Justin Dowlingmade a big impact in his return to Texas after playing six games with Dallas. He recorded five points (one goal, four assists), a plus-4 rating and had 8 shots on goal in the two games while centering the top line with veterans Travis Morin and Erik Condra.
‣ Defenseman Taylor Fedun, whom the Stars acquired from the Sabres for a conditional seventh-round pick in 2020, made his Texas debut Sunday in San Antonio. He was solid while playing on a pair with Dillon Heatherington and picked up one assist in the game. Fedun, 30, a right-handed shooting defenseman has played 46 NHL games with Edmonton, San Jose, Vancouver, and Buffalo, registering 15 points (two goals, 13 assists).
‣ Goaltender Landon Bow had a strong weekend, stopping 49 of 52 shots in the two Texas wins. He was particularly impressive in the 8-1 victory Saturday when he stopped 30 of 31 shots including several sharp saves.

Texas lineup

Here is the Texas lineup from the last game.
Travis Morin - Justin Dowling - Erik Condra
Denis Gurianov - Roope Hintz - Colton Hargrove
Nick Caamano - Joel L'Esperance - Colin Markison
Sam Laberge - James Phelan - Adam Mascherin
Dillon Heatherington - Taylor Fedun
John Nyberg - Gavin Bayreuther
Shane Hanna - Brady Norrish
Landon Bow
Philippe Desrosiers

Upcoming schedule

Wed., Nov. 14:Manitoba at Texas, 7:00 p.m.
Fri., Nov. 16:Rockford at Texas, 7:00 p.m.

Idaho Steelheads

The Idaho Steelheads, Dallas' ECHL affiliate, went 1-1-1 last week. The Steelheads are 5-7-2 on the season. Stars goaltending prospect Colton Pointwon his ECHL debut, stopping 28 of 30 shots in a 3-2 win over Tulsa on Wednesday. In his second start, he played just one period after allowing three goals on eight shots.
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.