Stars Complete Sweep in Tucson with More Late Heroics
Oct 20, 2024
TUCSON, Arizona – The Texas Stars, American Hockey League affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars, stormed back from a 3-1 third period deficit to shock the Tucson Roadrunners for the second straight night Sunday at Tucson Arena. A tiebreaking goal from Alex Petrovic with 16.1 seconds left in regulation sent Texas home with a 4-3 win and a four-point weekend.
The Stars opened the scoring when Kyle Capobianco fired a shot from the left point that glanced off of Chase Wheatcroft on its way to the net. It was Wheatcroft’s third goal of the season already and extended his point streak to four games. Tucson answered later in the frame when Egor Sokolov set up Hunter Drew with a cross-crease pass that Drew knocked past Remi Poirier to tie the game.
56 seconds into the middle frame, the Roadrunners jumped into the lead when Milos Keleman lifted a backhander past Poirier from the edge of the crease. Tucson added to their lead after successfully killing off a penalty. Maveric Lamoureux jumped out of the penalty box and scored seconds later after receiving a centering pass from Andrew Agozzino
Texas dominated the final frame, outshooting the Roadrunners 20-2 in the eventual win. Shortly after a power play ended, the Stars closed the gap to 3-2 when Curtis McKenzie tipped a Christian Kyrou shot past Jaxson Stauber 2:03 into the period. McKenzie then helped set up the game-tying goal when he intercepted a Tucson clearing attempt and found Matej Blumel alone in the slot. Blumel’s shot was stopped by Stauber, but Arttu Hyry buried the rebound at 9:35 for his first pro goal in North America.
Petrovic’s game-winner came off of an offensive zone faceoff win by Matthew Seminoff. Petrovic fired a wrist shot though traffic and over Stauber’s shoulder to complete the comeback in the waning seconds. The Stars outshot the Roadrunners 45-22 in the game, as Poirier picked up his first win of the season in a 19-save effort. Stauber stopped 41 shots in the loss.
The Stars return home Friday and Saturday for two Central Division contests against the Iowa Wild at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park. Both games are slated for 7:00 p.m. starts and tickets are on sale at www.texasstars.com/tickets.
The Texas Stars are the primary development affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars. For more information, call (512) GO-STARS (467-8277) or visit TexasStars.com.
Photo Credit: Tucson Roadrunners