San Antonio Edges Texas 5-4 in Overtime Battle

Dec 28, 2019

CEDAR PARK, Texas – The Texas Stars, American Hockey League affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars, fell to the San Antonio Rampage by a 5-4 final in Saturday night’s overtime contest. After trailing for a large part of the game, San Antonio came back to tie the game late in the third and net the overtime winner with only 1.3 seconds of play remaining. 

 

Texas opened scoring just four minutes into the contest as Joel L’Esperance controlled the puck in the right circle. In attempt to stop the play, a San Antonio defender fell to the ice, allowing L’Esperance to spin around and take a shot on goal. The puck then bounced off of a Rampage defenders skate and through Adam Wilcox’s legs for the first tally of the game. The Rampage struck back 10 minutes later on a goal from Andreas Borgman, who was waiting in front of Landon Bow when he received a pass from Nathan Walker. The defenseman then tossed a shot toward the goal that slipped under Bow’s leg to level the score. 

 

With just over five minutes until the intermission, Texas regained the lead. Riley Tufte controlled the puck in the offensive zone and made a smooth cross-ice pass to linemate Tye Felhaber, to set him up for a one-on-one opportunity. Felhaber danced in front of Wilcox before lifting the puck over his right leg for the rookie’s first AHL goal. 

 

The Stars entered the middle frame hot, scoring a goal to up their lead to 3-1 instantly. Joel Kiviranta held the puck along the boards and skated around the left circle in front of the net. He then got a quick shot over the goaltender’s shoulder for his eighth tally of the season. Less than one minute later, Joey LaLeggia put the Rampage within striking distance as he beat Bow to cut Texas’ lead to 3-2. 

 

The back-and-forth affair continued in the late half of the period. Tanner Kero scored his first goal in a Stars sweater as he cleaned up a wraparound shot by Tufte. Shortly thereafter, the Rampage got the goal back on a 3-on-2 opportunity to make it a one-goal game. 

 

Texas held off San Antonio’s hard push for much of the third, but the Rampage battled back by sending 20 shots toward Bow and leveling the score with just over one-minute remaining in the game. Nathan Walker redirected Derrick Pouliot’s shot from the point for the game-tying goal that eventually forced overtime. 

 

Each team saw a set of chances during the overtime period, but the opposing goalies answered with respective sprawling saves to keep the score at 4-4. With only 1.3 seconds separating overtime from a shootout, Kilm Kostin ripped a shot over Bow and into the left corner of the net to complete the comeback win.

 

Texas held San Antonio without a power play goal on five chances while the Rampage successfully killed off their two penalties. Wilcox earned the win despite surrendering four goals on 18 shots. Bow suffered the loss after allowing five goals on San Antonio’s 42 shots. Texas’ decision in overtime continues the club’s point streak to three games while the Rampage have two wins in the last three outings.

 

The Stars now hit the road for a two-game road trip. The team will face off against the Iowa Wild in an afternoon matchup on New Year’s Eve before battling the Chicago Wolves in their first game of 2020. 

 

Written by Stevie Golding

Photo Credit: Ross Bonander

 

Game Info	Shots	Goaltenders	3 Stars (Xerox Business Solutions Southwest)
Boxscore	TEX: 18	W: Adam Wilcox (SA)	1: Klim Kostin (SA)
Photo	SA: 42	OTL: Landon Bow (TEX)	2: Tye Felhaber (TEX)
Video			3: Nathan Walker (SA)