The Mid-Cities Jr. Stars are back on home ice this weekend and welcome the undefeated Louisiana Drillers into the Children’s Health StarCenter in Euless.
The two teams have not seen each other yet this season, and it looks as if it will be another game where the Jr. Stars can measure themselves against. The Drillers come into the weekend having the 1st overall penalty kill at 91.7% and leading the league in goals-against with the opposing teams averaging only 1.33 goals a game.
For the Jr. Stars, it’ll be about capitalizing on any offensive chances and minimizing the impact of the Drillers tandem between the pipes of Evan Wittchow and Brandon Keeney. Both goaltenders have a .940 save percentage and a goals-against-average of 1.25 and 1.50, respectively.
Luckily for the Jr. Stars, their offense has awoken as of recently. Ilnur Madiarov is still leading the team in that department, but the depth scoring from players like Dante Petrini, Blake Lind, and Colton Sebastian has been an added welcome to a team that struggled in putting the puck in the net last season.
The Jr. Stars are sitting 5th in the South Division with a 3-7-0-0 record and 6 points on the season.
South Division Standings:
1) Texas RoadRunners—17 points
2) Texas Brahmas— 16 points
3) Lousiana Drillers—12 points
4) El Paso— 10 points
5) Mid-Cities — 6 points
6) Austin — 4 points
7) Oklahoma City— 1 point
8) Atlanta — 0 points
Mid-Cities Jr. Stars Record:
Overall: 3-7-0-0
Last Ten: 3-7-0-0
Home Record: 1-2-0-0
Road Record: 2-5-0-0
Louisiana Drillers Record:
Overall: 6-0-0-0
Last Ten: 6-0-0-0
Home Record: 6-0-0-0
Away Record: 0-0-0-0
Mid-Cities Jr. Stars Leading Scorers:
#27 Ilnur Madiarov (10G 7A 17P)
#7 Kyle Russell (4G 7A 11P)
#91 Michael Kennedy (4G 7A 11P)
Louisiana Drillers Leading Scorers:
#92 Josh Hrip (6G 7A 13P)
#27 Zan Mojzer (4G 5A 9P)
#71 Mark Kurliandchyk (3G 6A 9P)