Cochranite Justin Dowling recently reached a career milestone.
In an American Hockey League (AHL) game on March 29 against the Bakersfield Condors, the veteran Texas Stars forward picked up four assists in a 5-1 victory to move into fourth position on the Stars’ all-time points leader board with 174 (63 goals, 111 assists).
“It was a great game,” the 25-year-old Dowling said. “The bounces seemed to go my way, and the guys were putting the puck into the net when I was feeding them. It was nice to find some chemistry and get some confidence going into the playoffs.”
Dowling – who is in his fourth season with the Stars – currently has 41 points (9 goals, 32 assists) in 47 games, and is looking to continue improving since a knee injury he picked up in early January sidelined him for some time.
“I blew out my knee with a knee-on-knee hit, but luckily I didn’t tear my ACL,” he said. “It could have been a lot more serious than it was.
“I could have been out for six months, but instead it only ended up being nine weeks. It was a much better deal.”
The Stars, who are the Dallas Stars’ AHL affiliate, are in third-place in the Pacific Division, with a record of 37-23-7-3.
With only six games remaining in the regular-season, the team is looking to return to the winning ways of the 2013-14 season when it won the Calder Cup, after a disappointing season last term – the Rockford IceHogs swept them in the first-round of playoffs.
“We were disappointed with how things went last year,” Dowling admitted. “We knew we had a better team than what we showed. Our goal going into this year was to try and build off what we’ve done previously and get past the first-round.
“The end goal is to win a championship, and we have the pieces to do it. Even if we run into a hot goalie like we did last year, we have to find a way around that and grind out a series win.”
The Stars finished second in the West Division with 92 points (40-22-13-1) last season, but due to being rearranged into a new seven-team division, making the playoffs has been tougher.
“Having the California teams (San Diego, Bakersfield, San Jose, Stockton), in our division has been a bit different,” Dowling said. “They play eight games less than us, so everything is passed off on a points system.
“If they win a game and we lose one, they basically double up on points, so it’s a lot harder this year.”
Nonetheless, Dowling and his team have handled the pressure admirably and are primed to appear in their third consecutive post-season.
Is there anything he feels the team has done differently compared to previous seasons in the way they’ve approached this campaign?
“We’re relatively the same,” he said. “We’re playing high-quality hockey. It’s a faster style of game, that’s very high-tempo where we roll four lines. We’re not too worried about matchups, and let everyone go out and play their game.
“It’s been paying off, and we’re going to see where it takes us one day at a time.”
