Riley Barber scored twice to lift the visiting Texas Stars to a 4-1 win over the Rockford IceHogs in Game 2 of the teams’ Central Division semifinal series on Sunday evening.
After posting back-to-back road wins to open the best-of-five series, the Stars head home with three chances to close out the IceHogs. Game 3 is set for Wednesday in Cedar Park.
Barber, who finished fourth in the AHL with 32 goals during the regular season, gave the Stars a 2-0 lead with his first goal 11:39 into the second period, then added a big insurance marker to make it 3-1 with 3:28 left in regulation.
Curtis McKenzie and Tanner Kero chipped in with a goal and an assist apiece and Oskari Laaksonen tallied two assists for Texas. Matt Murray (2-0) stopped 26 of 27 shots in the win.
Joey Anderson scored for Rockford for the second straight game. Arvid Soderblom (2-2) made 25 saves.
Central Division Semifinals (best-of-5)
C1-Texas Stars vs. C5-Rockford IceHogs
Game 1 – Fri., Apr. 28 – Texas 5, ROCKFORD 3 | Recap
Game 2 – Sun., Apr. 30 – Texas 4, ROCKFORD 1
Game 3 – Wed., May 3 – Rockford at Texas, 8:00
*Game 4 – Fri., May 5 – Rockford at Texas, 8:00
*Game 5 – Sat., May 6 – Rockford at Texas, 8:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern
