Rampage Edge Stars 3-2 in Shootout

Feb 14, 2020

CEDAR PARK, Texas – The Texas Stars, American Hockey League affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars, fell to the San Antonio Rampage 3-2 in a shootout during their return to the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park on Friday night. After facing a deficit in the third, Texas tied the game in the final minutes, but the comeback stalled as San Antonio collected their first shootout win of the season.

 

San Antonio opened scoring early as Mitch Reinke buried a rebound off the pads of Landon Bow that came off of an initial shot by Kilm Kostin. Shortly thereafter, Jake Oettinger took over as the Stars goalie as Bow exited the game due to injury. Halfway through the frame, Texas struck back to level the score at one. Brad McClure carried the puck into the zone along the wall and snuck behind the net to slide a pass to Rhett Gardner, who beat Adam Wilcox for his sixth goal of the season. 

 

The Texas rivals then exchanged 13 scoreless minutes before the Rampage regained the lead just seconds after their power play expired. San Antonio’s Tanner Kaspick gained possession of the puck on a turnover in front of the net and lifted a goal over Oettinger’s shoulder to put the Rampage ahead. 

 

Texas battled for a comeback as they faced a one-goal deficit in the third. San Antonio held off Texas for much of the frame behind a solid performance by Wilcox, but when Dakota Joshua was whistled for high-sticking late in the game the Stars leveled the score yet again. Less than 10 seconds into the power play and Oettinger on the bench for a 6-on-4 advantage, Gavin Bayreuther dished the puck to Taylor Fedun for a blast from the top of the left circle. Michael Mersch was then able to tip in the game-tying goal to eventually force overtime. 

 

In the extra period, Oettinger battled to keep Texas in the game up to the final seconds in which he completed a sprawling glove save. After five scoreless minutes of overtime the fight for two points in the Central Division standings continued with the shootout. Oettinger made a pair of saves to get things started, however, Wilcox countered with three stops to put San Antonio in position to win with a third-round goal. Nathan Walker ultimately got the job done for the Rampage as he ripped a quick shot through Oettinger’s legs.

 

Texas ended the night one-for-two on the power play while San Antonio went scoreless on three opportunities. Oettinger suffered the shootout loss in a 36-save relief appearance. Wilcox secured his sixth win of the season after stopping 22 of Texas’ 24 shots. 

 

The Stars and Rampage meet again on Saturday night. The Stars continue their home stretch at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park at 7 p.m. in their eighth meeting with the Rampage this season.

 

Written by Stevie Golding

Photo Credit: Andy Nietupski

 

Game Info	Shots	Goaltenders	3 Stars (Xerox Business Solutions Southwest)
Boxscore	TEX: 24	W: Adam Wilcox (SA)	1: Nathan Walker (SA)
Photo	SA: 49	SOL: Jake Oettinger (TEX)	2: Jake Oettinger (TEX)
Video			3: Kilm Kostin (SA)