Stars Cool the Heat in Thrilling 5-4 Victory
Jan 25, 2019|
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CEDAR PARK, Texas – The Texas Stars, American Hockey League affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars, battled the Stockton Heat in the first of two weekend games at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park. Nine players earned a point in the 5-4 victory snapping a five-game losing streak in their return to Cedar Park.
Texas got on the board first, scoring just 5:44 into the first period. Connor Carrick converted on a face-off win by Stars captain Justin Dowling. The defenseman shot a rocket from the point past Tyler Parsons to give his team a 1-0 advantage. Moments later, Buddy Robinson evened the score.
Texas came into the second period looking to take the lead, and it took them 29 seconds to do just that. Rookie forward Adam Mascherin tipped in a shot from Joel Hanley to give his team a 2-1 advantage. Twelve minutes later, Stockton’s Andrew Mangiapane got the equalizer past Landon Bow at the tail end of a power play. Both teams were held without a power play goal in the game despite a combined 52 minutes in penalties.
The remainder of the second period was a battle on both sides that included a fight between Nicholas Caamano and Anthony Peluso. After five minutes, Denis Gurianov cashed in reclaiming the Stars lead. The AHL All-Star came out from behind Stockton’s defenseman to take Parsons one-on-one. He went five-hole on a backhanded shot to light the lamp.
The Texas Stars took a 3-2 lead into the final frame. Both sides played with a sense of urgency to start the period and it paid off for Texas. After a successful penalty kill, Joel L’Esperance threw the puck out of the offensive zone that met Hintz at the blue line. He took the breakaway opportunity and shot a blast right through the legs of Parsons.
Despite a two-goal deficit, Stockton was not ready to back down. The opposing team rallied to tie the game with scoring two goals in 72 seconds, and start the game over at four a piece. With just three minutes remaining in regulation and less than 30 seconds after the Heat tied the game, Caamano made the difference in the back-and-forth contest. Carrick fired a shot from the blue line that was stopped by Parsons, but created chaos in front of the net. Caamano was able to get a hold of the puck and shoot the eventual game-winning goal past the netminder from his knees.
Bow stopped 18 shots in the contest to earn another win on home ice. The goaltender has now earned a point in 12 consecutive starts at the H-E-B Center.
Photo Credit: Mollie Kendall