Stars Comeback Falls Short in Bakersfield
Nov 3, 2018BAKERSFIELD, California – The Texas Stars, American Hockey League affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars, completed their California road trip with a 4-3 defeat at the hands of the Bakersfield Condors from Rabobank Arena. The Stars tallied a pair of goals in the third period but the comeback fell short after 60 minutes of play.
The Condors opened the game with a big push from the opening faceoff, tallying a pair of goals before the first five minutes had come off the game clock. Joe Gambardella and Evan Polei found the net for Bakersfield forcing the Stars into a 2-goal deficit. Goaltender Landon Bow came into the game for only 16 seconds as Colton Point exited the contest after the second goal. Point returned to the crease for the remainder of the game and made 25 saves.
Texas was out-chanced in the first period and went to the intermission with a 10-3 shot differential. The Condors added another early in the second period from Braden Christoffer to put the stars on their heels. The response came from Joel Hanley on the power play a little less than six minutes into the middle frame. The defenseman strode off the bench and caught a pass from Denis Gurianov at the top of the left circle. His shot beat goaltender Al Montoya to put the Stars on the board. Montoya earned the win in the end with 27 saves.
Later in the period, the Condors added a power play goal of their own. Cameron Hebig walked into the circle from the right point and tallied his team leading fifth goal of the season. Both teams finished the game 1-for-4 on the power play as Bakersfield took the 4-1 advantage into the third period.
The Stars charged forward in the third period, outshooting the Condors 16-2 in the final 20 minutes of play. The work paid off on the scoreboard as Erik Condra redirected a shot into the net at 12:45. The forward moved into the crease as Colin Markison fired a shot toward the net. After a pair of deflections, the puck banked off his chest and into the open cage. Texas would then pull Point from the net for an extra attacker. In the final second of the game, Michael Mersch notched his fifth goal of the season to move the score to the 4-3 final.
Texas returns home and has a full week without games before facing the San Antonio Rampage on Saturday, Nov. 10.
3 Stars presented by Dahill Office Technology Corporation
- Evan Polei (BAK)
- Joe Gambardella (BAK)
- Braden Christoffer (BAK)