Rockford got 33 saves from Arvid Soderblom and goals from rookies Lukas Reichel and Carson Gicewicz to claim a 2-1 win over Texas in the opener of their Central Division first round series on Wednesday night.
Game 2 is set for Friday in Rockford.
Reichel, who established an IceHogs rookie scoring record with 57 points in the regular season, got behind the Stars defense, took a feed from Michal Teply and beat Matt Murray (28 saves) to give Rockford a 1-0 lead at 6:53 of the second period.
Gicewicz doubled the lead at 4:06 of the third when he deflected Ian Mitchell’s shot from the point past Murray, his former teammate at UMass-Amherst.
The Stars got on the board 47 seconds later as Fredrik Karlstrom scored off a quick shot from the right circle, but they could not find the equalizer.
Texas finished with a 34-30 edge in shots on goal. Each team was 0-for-1 on the power play in the game.
Central Division First Round – Series “D” (best-of-3)
C4-Rockford IceHogs vs. C5-Texas Stars
Game 1 – Wed., May 4 – ROCKFORD 2, Texas 1
Game 2 – Fri., May 6 – Texas at Rockford, 8:00
*Game 3 – Sat., May 7 – Texas at Rockford, 7:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern
