Stars Early Lead Ripped Away in 2-1 Overtime Loss
Mar 1, 2019|
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CEDAR PARK, Texas – The Texas Stars, American Hockey League affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars, dropped the puck on a weekend set of games versus the division-leading Chicago Wolves. Adam Mascherin gave the Stars a first period lead that they would carry until the final minutes of the contest, but the Wolves proved victorious after forcing overtime.
The opening period was back-and-forth between the Wolves and Stars, as each team recorded only three shots in the first 10 minutes. With seven minutes remaining until the intermission, the Stars rookie forward gave his team a one-goal advantage. Niklas Hansson slid the puck across the blue line to Nicholas Caamano who fired a blast at Wolves netminder, Max Lagace. Mascherin got ahold of just enough of the puck to tip it past Lagace for his 16th goal of the season.
In a slow second period, Erik Condra saw an opportunity to make it a two-goal game with loose puck in front of Lagace. As the forward took a shot, Lagace made a beautiful diving save to keep his team in the game. Philippe Desrosiers returned the favor on the other side of the ice, making a spectacular pad save for the Stars on a wraparound attempt by Chicago to prevent a tie game.
Each team got their chance on the man advantage in the middle period but could not find the back of the net. The Stars would eventually hold the Wolves on 2-of-3 opportunities. Texas’ power play came through yet again, converting on 1-of-5 chances. The Stars continue to maintain the second-best power play in the AHL at 24.4%.
Desrosiers continued to help the Stars, stopping the AHL’s leading scorer Daniel Carr on several opportunities in regulation. The Texas netminder made 20 saves in the decision but was unable to notch the victory. The score remained 1-0 for much of the final period, until Keegan Kolesar tied the game at one with less than three minutes left in regulation. A crazy deflection off of Gavin Bayreuther in front of the net would eventually steal the shutout from Desrosiers and force overtime.
The Stars found themselves at a disadvantage just 40 seconds into the overtime period when Caamano was called for a slashing penalty. A minute and a half into 4-on-3 hockey, Carr finally found the net to earn the game winning goal and give Chicago the extra point on his 30th of the season.
The two teams will match up again on Saturday night, meeting for the seventh time in the 2018-19 season.
Photo Credit: Andy Nietupski