Sholl Sets Stars Record to Hold onto 5-2 Win in Tucson

Mar 5, 2021

TUCSON, Arizona – The Texas Stars, American Hockey League affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars, capped off another 5-2 win in Tucson tonight and were backstopped by a 25-save third period by goaltender Tomas Sholl. The netminder’s 40-stop game coupled with their second consecutive five-goal game was enough to improve the team’s record to 6-3-0-0 and 4-1-0-0 on the road.

 

The Roadrunners capitalized in the first period on a Texas turnover in the offensive zone and ran up the ice for a 4-on-1. Doyle Somerby was able to slip a pass to Ryan McGregor who was waiting at the right side of the crease and tapped in his first goal of the season less than seven minutes into the game.

 

Texas cleaned it up quickly and evened the game up less than three minutes later. Nick Moutrey lofted the puck down the ice toward the Tucson zone and Jake Slaker chased it down to avoid the icing. The rookie then collected the puck and centered it to Riley Tufte who outlasted Adin Hill in the Tucson goal for his first tally of the season.

 

The game remained tied for only 19 seconds. Texas extended the lead on the next series as Adam Mascherin benefitted from a puck waiting loose in the crease. Nick Baptiste entered the zone and tossed the puck across the Tucson zone and as it pinballed toward the corner, Riley Damiani knocked it down and tipped it toward the goal line. With Hill out of the crease, Mascherin tapped in the loose puck for his fifth goal of the year.

 

Nikita Scherbak picked up Texas third power play goal of the week to extend the lead to two goals. Mascherin slipped a pass over to Scherbak in the right circle for a quick one-timer that caught Tucson out of position. Hill was sprawling to make a save but missed the chance and surrendered the first of two goals to Scherbak in the game.

 

The second period featured four Texas power plays but the Stars could not capitalize and Hill stopped 17 shots from the Stars overall. Texas would finish the game 1-for-6 on the power play and had no chances in the third period. Tucson’s power play took shape in the third period but would not beat Sholl on any of their seven chances in the game.

 

Anthony Louis and Derek Barach connected early in the third period, sending a pass to the front of the net that was redirected by Louis 30 seconds into the frame. His third goal of the season gave Texas a 4-1 advantage and Tucson immediately began a charge to narrow the score.

 

Sholl would need to hold down the fort on four power play chances, that included a late 6-on-3 with Hill on the bench. The goaltender was spectacular and set a Stars franchise record with 25 saves in the period. The effort overtook Richard Bachman’s 23-save second period against Houston on Apr. 10, 2010 during the team’s inaugural season.

 

Scherbak added the Stars fifth goal with less than six minutes to play, wristing a shot past the glove of Hill from the right circle for his third goal of the year. Tucson bookended the Stars third consecutive five-goal game as one shot slipped by Sholl in the third period. A deflection from Kevin Roy broke his stick and redirected the puck into the net in the final five minutes.

 

Sholl stopped a career-high 40 shots and has made 75 saves in two games this week against Tucson. Hill’s first start of a conditioning loan to the Roadrunners fell short as he made 31 saves on the Stars 36 shots.

 

Tucson and Texas clash tomorrow night Saturday, Mar. 6 at 8 p.m. CT for their final meeting at Tucson Convention Center Arena this season.

Photo Credit: Tucson Roadrunners

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Game Info	Shots	Goaltenders	3 Stars (Xerox Business Solutions Southwest)
Boxscore	TEX: 36	W: Tomas Sholl (TEX)	1: Nikita Scherbak (TEX)
Photo	TUC: 42	L: Adin Hill (TUC)	2: Tomas Sholl (TEX)
Video			3: Ryan McGregor (TUC)