Griffins Top Stars in High-Scoring Affair

Feb 25, 2025

CEDAR PARK, Texas – The Texas Stars, American Hockey League affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars, were outlasted by the Grand Rapids Griffins 6-4 in the first of a two-game midweek series Tuesday at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park.

 

The Griffins killed off two early power plays, including a brief 5-on-3, before Amadeus Lombardi tucked a wraparound past Remi Poirier to open the scoring at 7:31 of the first period. Just three seconds after their first power play ended, the Griffins added a second goal when Nate Danielson clanked a shot off the post, before it ricocheted off the back of Poirier and into the net. The visitors led 2-0 after 20 minutes and outshot the Stars 9-6.

 

Texas flipped the momentum around in the second period when Arttu Hyry capitalized on a Kole Lind centering pass from the corner. Lind won a footrace for a loose puck deep in the Grand Rapids zone and quickly slid a backhanded pass into the slot for Hyry, who chipped in his 20^th goal of the season. The Stars’ leading scorer Matej Blumel tied the game at 2-2 when he fired a wrist shot off the glove of Sebastian Cossa and into the net with 5:52 left in the frame. A late blocked shot by Griffins forward Cross Hanas led to a breakaway the other way, and Hanas beat Poirier over the blocker to give the Griffins a 3-2 lead heading into the third period.

 

Blumel quickly evened things up again in the third period when he scored 1:01 into the frame on a Griffins turnover, tying the forward for second in the AHL’s scoring race. Grand Rapids regained the lead on a power play when Joe Snively ripped a shot through traffic from the center of the blue line to make it 4-3. Just a couple of minutes later, Brogan Rafferty capitalized on a Texas breakdown when he fired a shot past a screened Poirier from the top of the right circle. The Stars cut their deficit to one when Kyle McDonald snuck a sharp-angle shot past Cossa from the right circle, but Carter Mazur scored an empty-net goal to end the Stars’ comeback chances.

 

Cossa made 23 saves on 27 shots in the win, while Poirier stopped 15 of 20 in the loss.

The Stars will take on the Griffins again Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park. Tickets are on sale at www.texasstars.com/tickets. 

The Texas Stars are the primary development affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars. For more information, call (512) GO-STARS (467-8277) or visit TexasStars.com.

 

Photo Credit: Andy Nietupski

 

Game Info	Shots	Goaltenders	3 Stars (Ubeo Business Services)
Boxscore	TEX: 27	W: Cossa (GR)	1: Lombardi (GR)
Photo	GR: 21	L: Poirier (TEX)	2: Blumel (TEX)
			3: Becher (GR)