Stars Drop Final Game in Cleveland
Mar 28, 2021CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Texas Stars, American Hockey League affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars, were unable to overcome a three-goal Cleveland first period before falling 5-2 to the Monsters at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Texas finished the road trip-1-2-0 against Cleveland and will later host the Monsters in a 3-game home series at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park.
For the third time this week and the 10th time in their 11 games, the Monsters scored first. The puck first redirected behind goaltender Tomas Sholl and an acrobatic stop brought the puck into a scramble in the crease. Tyler Sikura battled to push his third goal of the year into the back of the net before the three-minute mark of the first period.
Nathan Gerbe added to the lead with his third of the season three minutes later. The Monsters captain collected a loose puck that bounced into the high slot and fired it past Sholl’s blocker through traffic. Cleveland’s final goal in the period was also on a loose puck that was collected in the slot. After Andrew Peeke’s shot was blocked, Evan Polei collected it and flipped a backhanded shot past a sprawling Sholl.
The Stars second period brought back feelings of Déjà vu as Texas scored two goals in the period to cut the deficit down to a 3-2 score before the second intermission. Nick Baptiste scored the first of two goals to extend his point streak to nine games with 13 points (7-6=13) in those games. Adam Mascherin’s shot was stopped by Brad Thiessen but the rebound bounced off the body of Baptiste for his eighth goal of the season. Baptiste is two games away from tying a franchise record 11-game point streak.
Mascherin rallied for a goal later in the period with 11 minutes left to play. The winger spun a shot toward the goal from the left circle and it trickled past the pads of Thiessen for his 10th goal of the year. Mascherin ranks second in the AHL in goals and is third with 21 points (10-11=21) after a two-point game.
It was as close as the Stars would come to the Monsters in the game. Early in the third period, Carson Meyer helped deliver Cleveland’s fourth goal of the game. The winger broke into the zone and walked around the Stars defense before tapping it back across to Polei who buried his second of the game and third of the season.
Texas challenged the Monsters late and emptied the net to overcome the 4-2 deficit, but Tyler Sikura launched the puck down the ice to earn his second goal of the game and end any hopes of another Texas comeback.
Defenseman Gavin Bayreuther earned assists on four of the Monsters five goals for a career best performance while Thiessen made 24 saves in his third win of the year. Sholl stopped 31 shots in the loss and is now 4-3-1 in eight starts this year.
Texas returns home for a busy week against the Iowa Wild beginning with the first of four games on Tuesday, Mar. 30 at 7 p.m.
Photo Credit: Cleveland Monsters
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| Game Info | Shots | Goaltenders | 3 Stars (Xerox Business Solutions Southwest) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boxscore | TEX: 26 | W: Tomas Sholl (TEX) | 1: Evan Polei (CLE) |
| Photo | CLE: 36 | L: Brad Thiessen (CLE) | 2: Gavin Bayreuther (CLE) |
| Video | 3: Tyler Sikura (CLE) |