Campbell’s Heroics Lead Stars Past Monsters in a 3-2 Shootout Win
Mar 17, 2015CEDAR PARK, Texas - Jack Campbell came on in a relief appearance late in the first period and 35 saves later lifted the Texas Stars to their fourth straight win in a 3-2 shootout final over the Lake Erie Monsters on Tuesday night at Cedar Park Center.
Campbell entered the game after starter Jussi Rynnas left due to injury with 2:01 remaining in the first. The Stars goaltender made two key stops in overtime, then turned away Lake Erie's Mitchell Heard in round four of the shootout to seal the win for the Stars (29-18-13-1), who extended their lead over eighth-place Hamilton and stayed within a point of sixth-place Milwaukee in the AHL's Western Conference playoff race. Travis Morin was credited with the game-winner, beating Lake Erie's Calvin Pickard in round four on a wrist shot from the slot, glove side.
The Stars begin a four-game road trip on Thursday against the Chicago Wolves at 7 p.m.
Both teams exchanged goals in the first forty minutes of play to setup overtime. Brandon Troock and Devin Shore hooked up on a 2-on-0 rush to open up the scoring at 6:51 of the first as Troock buried his third of the season to give the rookie Shore his first career pro point with the assist. The Monsters (27-25-5-4) knotted things up on the power play at 11:20 of the period with Sam Henley deflecting a point shot past Campbell for his sixth of the year.
In period two, Cameron Gaunce pushed the Stars back in front with a power play goal of his own at 7:03, drilling a slap shot from the left point through traffic for his fourth of the season. With just over a minute left, Lake Erie added another power play tally with Stefan Elliot lifting a centering pass from behind the net over Campbell's shoulder to tie things again.
After a scoreless third, Texas and Lake Erie each traded six shots during the overtime frame that tested both goaltenders. Campbell made a sprawling stop in the final minute on an odd-man rush that sprung Travis Morin on a breakaway chance which Pickard quickly swallowed up with 20 seconds remaining to keep things tied and set up the shootout. The Lake Erie netminder stopped 20 of 22 shots in the losing effort.
The Monsters finished 2-for-5 on the man-advantage, while the Stars went 1-for-5, scoring their 14th power play goal in their last 13 games.
Justin Dowling and Matt Mangene each extended their assist streaks to four games on the Gaunce goal. Derek Hulak saw his four-game goal-scoring streak come to an end for Texas.
Photo Credit: Christina Shapiro/Texas Stars
| Three Stars: 1. Travis Morin (TEX) 2. Jack Campbell (TEX) 3. Cameron Gaunce (TEX) |
Shots: Stars - 29 Monsters - 49 |
Goaltenders: W - Campbell L - Pickard |