Stars Edge Barons, 3-2, Campbell Makes 37 Saves
Oct 17, 2014OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – After the Oklahoma City Barons scored twice in the second to knot the score, Jyrki Jokipakka buried a power play goal late in the frame to push the Texas Stars ahead, and Jack Campbell shut the door with 37 saves to a cap off a 3-2 win on Friday night at Cox Convention Center.
Jokipakka’s goal came off a centering feed from the corner by Gemel Smith, who tallied the first point of his professional career with the assist and was appearing in his first career game. Campbell earned the win in his first appearance of the season for the Stars (2-0-0-0), stopping 11 shots in the third period to keep the Barons (0-1-1-0) from tallying the equalizer.
Texas jumped out to a 2-0 lead early in the game, scoring a pair of goals in the opening three minutes. Kevin Henderson placed a crossing pass to Derek Meech, who beat Baron’s netminder Laurent Brossoit from the left circle, and Derek Hulak tapped in a rebound goal from Justin Dowling’s redirect effort.
Henderson, who was appearing in his 300th career AHL game, picked up the 100th point of his AHL career on Meech’s goal with the assist.
The Barons tied the game in the second on a power play goal by Jordan Oesterle at 9:00 and a Jason Williams slap shot at 10:59. Jokipakka’s game-winner came with 3:46 remaining in the period.
The Stars finished 1-for-4 on the power play. The Barons went 1-for-5. Brossoit stopped 27 shots in net for Oklahoma City.
Three Stars:
1. Jyrki Jokipakka (TEX)
2. Ryan Hamilton (OKC)
3. Jack Campbell (TEX)
The Texas Stars entered the 2014-15 season as the AHL’s defending Calder Cup Champions. Single-game tickets and season ticket packages for the 2014-15 campaign are on sale now. For more information, call (512) GO-STARS (467-8277) or visit TexasStarsHockey.com.
Photo Credit: Steve Christy/Oklahoma City Barons