Goalie Oscar Dansk leads strong defensive effort by Wolves

CEDAR PARK, Texas — The Wolves’ defense has ranked among the American Hockey League’s stingiest for the last six weeks.

Spearheaded by Oscar Dansk, the AHL’s reigning goaltender of the month, the defense delivered again Friday night as the Wolves rallied to earn a 2-1 victory against the Texas Stars at

H-E-B Center.

Veteran forward Brandon Pirri and rookie defenseman Jimmy Schuldt scored, while Dansk stopped 19 of 20 shots as the Wolves (21-18-3-2) strengthened their hold on third place in the Central Division.

The Stars (20-19-2-2) opened the scoring at 7:13 of the first when they linked several quick passes together and found defenseman Gavin Bayreuther open above the left face-

off circle. Bayreuther stepped into a slap shot that whizzed through traffic and into the net.

Pirri snapped the Wolves’ 130-minute, 45-second scoring drought when he delivered on a breakaway to make it 1-1 with 23 seconds left in the second period.

Defenseman Jake Bischoff claimed the puck in the defensive slot and whistled a long stretch pass between two Texas defensemen to find Pirri rushing into the offensive zone.

The Wolves produced the game-winner at 2:30 of the third period — three seconds after their power play expired. Center Nicolas Roy spied Schuldt open above the left circle and teed him up for a blistering one-timer. Schuldt’s shot whisked past goaltender Jake Oettinger, whose vision was blocked by 6-2, 230-pound Wolves forward Keegan Kolesar.

Dansk (15-6-2) improved his record to 11-0-2 since Dec. 1. Oettinger (9-10-2) posted 21 saves in the loss.