Texas Stars Report

The Texas Stars went 1-1-1 over the past week and are 28-30-5 on the season. The Stars are in sixth place in the AHL's Pacific Division and would need to climb to fourth to make the AHL's Calder Cup Playoffs. The Pacific Division standings are based on points percentage due to the uneven number of games played by the teams, and the Stars have little margin for error over their final 13 games. Texas has a key four-game homestand starting this week that includes three games against Stockton, which is in fifth place in the Pacific and is a team the Stars need to pass in the standings. Also, defenseman Gavin Bayreuther, signed to an entry-level deal by Dallas last week, scored a goal in his first game with Texas. Here's the latest on the AHL affiliate of the Dallas Stars.
Wednesday, March 15: Chicago 1, Texas 0 (SO)
The Texas Stars lost their fourth straight game, falling 1-0 in a shootout at Chicago on Wednesday. Stars goaltender Justin Peters stopped 26 shots in regulation and overtime, but the Wolves scored on two of their three shots in the shootout. Chicago goaltender Craig Binnington stopped 30 shots and turned away Caleb Herbert and Travis Morin in the shootout to help the Wolves get the extra point.
Friday, March 17: Texas 4, Cleveland 0
Defenseman Gavin Bayreuther scored a goal in his professional debut, and Justin Peters stopped 24 shots as the Stars won 4-0 at Cleveland Friday to snap a four-game slide. Bayreuther, signed as a free agent out of St. Lawrence University earlier in the week, scored on the power play late in the game to extend Texas' lead to 4-0.
"[Travis] Morin found me backside through the seam," Bayreuther told the Texas Stars official site. "I was looking to have a really good seam towards the net, and it snuck five-hole."
Justin Dowling, Austin Fyten, and Caleb Herbert also scored for Texas.
Saturday, March 18: Cleveland 6, Texas 3
The Stars had a 3-0 lead after the first period Saturday in Cleveland, but couldn't hold it. The Monsters scored two goals in the second period and four goals, including two empty-netters, in the third period to rally past the Stars, 6-3. Matej Stransky, Brandon DeFazio, and Caleb Herbert scored for Texas. Justin Peters stopped 34 of 38 shots.

Notes
\The Dallas Stars announced last week that Texas Stars President Rick McLaughlin will step down at the end of the season.
"We'd like to thank Rick for his many years of devoted service to the Dallas Stars organization," Dallas Stars President Jim Lites said in a release. "Because of his leadership and vision, the Texas Stars have become one of the most successful organizations in the American Hockey League both on and off the ice. Rick has been in Cedar Park since day one and helped us with the huge undertaking of moving a team to a brand-new marketplace. His tireless efforts have established and grown the Dallas Stars brand in Central Texas."
McLaughlin has been with Texas the past eight seasons.
\Travis Morin leads Texas in scoring with 47 points (20 goals, 27 assists) in 63 games.
\Morin and Matej Stransky are tied for the team lead in goal scoring with 20.
\Brandon DeFazio leads Texas with nine power-play goals.
\Texas ranks 16th in the AHL in scoring (2.95 goals per game).
\Texas ranks 28th in goals against (3.38 per game).
\Texas ranks 23rd on the power play (15.6 percent).
\Texas ranks 30th on the penalty kill (74.7 percent).
Texas Lineup
Here is the Texas lineup from the last game.
Brandon DeFazio - Jason Dickinson - Denis Gurianov
Ethan Werek - Travis Morin - Matej Stransky
Matt Mangene - Justin Dowling - Mark McNeill
Cole Ully - Austin Fyten - Caleb Herbert
Gavin Bayreuther - Julius Honka
Dillon Heatherington - Nick Ebert
Andrew Bodnarchuk - Darren Dietz
Justin Peters
Landon Bow
Week Ahead
Wed., March 22, Tucson at Texas, 7:30 p.m.
Fri., March 24, Stockton at Texas, 7:30 p.m.
Sat., March 25, Stockton at Texas, 7:00 p.m.
Transactions
3/15: D Gavin Bayreuther signed to ATO by Texas (AHL)
3/15: G Landon Bow recalled to Texas (AHL) from Idaho (ECHL)
Idaho Steelheads
The Idaho Steelheads won two of three games over the past week to improve to 36-20-7 on the season. The Steelheads are in third place in the ECHL's Mountain Division.
Goaltender Philippe Desrosiers, who is playing for Norfolk in the ECHL, won both his starts last week, stopping 72 of 75 shots. Desrosiers is 13-8-1 with a 3.58 goals-against average and .900 save percentage with both Norfolk and Idaho this season.
This story was not subject to approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club. Mark Stepneski is an independent writer whose posts on DallasStars.com reflect his own opinions and do not represent official statements from the Dallas Stars. You can follow Mark on Twitter @StarsInsideEdge.