Stars End Slide
The L.A. Stars Prep team ended a two-game skid on Tuesday night as they ousted the Vienna Junior Caps 2-1, officially ending the season for the Caps and taking the season series two-games-to-one. The Stars elected to rest both Johann Bauer and Sandro Aeschlimann in favor of Swiss netminder Eliah Knecht, who came off of two solid outings on the weekend against Feldkirch and the New Zealand National Team.
The Stars opened the scoring in the first as Marco Richter redirected a point shot from Felix Wagner just 2:04 into the game. Midway through the first, Niki Kraus picked up a loose puck on the rush and buried it past a screened David Kickert, and the Stars held a 2-0 lead just 11:27 into the game. For the remainder of the period, the Stars peppered Kickert with another 15 shots, finishing with 17 in the period. Eliah Knecht was solid when tested, stopping all eleven shots directed towards the goal.
In the second period, the Stars seemed to lull somewhat, but the Caps were still unable to mount any sustained pressure in the offensive zone. Neither team was able to break the barrier in goal, as Kickert again turned aside 12 shots, while Knecht handled all six in his direction.
In the final frame, the Stars found themselves holding the two-goal lead throughout the first 18:54 of the frame, but with 1:06 remaining the Caps had an empty-net. With the Stars killing a two-minute boarding call, an errant attempt for an insurance goal by Stefan Hrdina would come back to test the mettle of the Stars as Marko Ilic eventually buried a wrist-shot past Knecht off of the rush, and the Caps were within one. The Caps, however, were then unable to gather any other zone possession, and as the final buzzer rang, the Stars grabbed the two points, and ended the Caps season.
“I thought, given that we had played three (games) in four, we were good. Guys played two very hard games in Villach this past weekend, and to come back here, get one day off where we still practiced, and then grind out a win against a team that always comes hard against us – I am happy with the result.” Goaltender Knecht also garnered praise from the coach. “Eliah has had a tough season, but this game he was good for us when he needed to be. We could have been sharper at times, but again: that’s a goalie’s job: to bail out players when they aren’t sharp.”
Next up for the Stars are the Graz 99ers, followed by the Innsbruck Sharks on the road in Innsbruck Sunday evening. Game time Saturday is 15:30 at the Klenkdome. Come down and check out the last regular season game of the Stars.
Prep Stars 2 vs EAC 1 (2:0; 0:0; 0:1)
