Morin Tallies 500th Point in Stars’ 6-5 Loss to Rochester
Jan 14, 2015CEDAR PARK, Texas -- Travis Morin scored a pair of goals and finished with three points, including the 500th of his professional career, but the Texas Stars came up short in a 6-5 loss to the Rochester Americans in front of a sold out crowd on Wednesday night at Cedar Park Center to close out a three-game homestand.
Justin Dowling also scored twice for Texas (15-13-9-0) in his first action since Dec. 26, and Maxime Fortunus recorded his 150th career assist in a Stars uniform. Tim Schaller tallied a pair of goals for the Americans (16-22-1-0), but Johan Larsson's strike from the slot with 1:33 left in regulation proved to be the game-winner. The two teams combined for 11 goals and the game's score saw three ties and two lead changes throughout the night.
The Stars begin a three-game road trip on Friday at Oklahoma City at 7 p.m.
The Stars opened up a 4-1 lead in the second period, only to see the Americans come back with four unanswered goals to take a 5-4 edge 3:21 into the third. Morin's milestone point came on a goal from the left circle at 13:38 of the first to snap a tie game. Greg Rallo added his 11th of the season just 18 seconds into the second from the slot, and Dowling's second of the game came on the power play at 2:23 of the middle period give the Stars their three-goal lead. Brayden Irwin at 6:42 of the second, Mikhail Grigorenko at 9:29, and Jerome Leduc at 18:34 all scored for Rochester to knot the game at 4-4.
Shaller scored his second of the night from the left circle to push Rochester in front, 5-4, but Morin came right back for the Stars to bury a one-timer power play goal from the right circle at 13:06 to tie the game again. Gemel Smith appeared to have given Texas the lead, stuffing home a loose puck in the goal crease, but the goal was disallowed for play being whistled dead as Andrey Makarov made an attempt to cover the puck.
Larsson's game-winner in the closing minutes was his ninth of the season for Rochester. Dowling and Shaller each scored first period goals as well.
Jack Campbell took the loss after playing the third period in relief of starter Jussi Rynnas, who finished 18-of-22 in net through forty minutes of action. Campbell made eight saves in the final period. Makarov earned his 12th win of the season, stopping 20-of-25. Rallo (one goal, two assists), Curtis McKenzie (two assists), and Brendan Ranford (two assists) all finished with multi-point games for Texas to join Morin and Dowling. Derek Hulak saw his team-high, six-game point streak for Stars come to an end.
For the second straight game the Stars recorded a pair of power play goals, going 2-for-5, and the Americans finished scoreless in two man-advantage chances.
Photo Credit: Christina Shapiro/Texas Stars
| Three Stars: 1. Johan Larsson (RCH) 2. Tim Shaller (RCH) 3. Travis Morin (TEX |
Shots: Stars - 25 Americans - 33 |
Goaltenders: W - Campbell L - Makarov |