Stars Fall to Griffins 5-1 to Finish Three-Game Weekend

Feb 9, 2020

GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan– The Texas Stars, American Hockey League affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars, suffered a 5-1 loss to the Grand Rapids Griffins on Sunday evening to end a three-game weekend. Jason Robertson was the lone goal scorer for Texas, registering his 20^th goal of his rookie campaign.

 

The Stars took to the ice for the third time in as many days on Sunday night to face the Grand Rapids Griffins. Texas dominated and controlled the pace of play the first 20 minutes of action. Texas created turnovers in the Griffins zone and held offensive pressure for the majority of the frame, registering 17 shots on net to the Griffins 2. However, Grand Rapids netminder Pat Nagle stood on his head making a plethora of quality saves to keep the game level at zero after one period of play.

 

Texas got a chance on the power play less than a minute into the period and finally broke through. Jason Robertson picked up his 20^th goal of the season on the power play firing a shot five-hole past Nagle to give the Stars an early second period lead. The Griffins offensive firepower would headline the rest of the period as Chris Terry leveled the score on a one-timer about a minute later. About nine minutes into the frame Terry walked around a Stars defender and fed a pass across the crease to Michael Rasmussen who finished it off to give the Griffins the lead. Grand Rapids would go on to add two more goals as Evgeny Svechnikov tallied on the power play and Matt Puempel followed suit two minutes later.

 

The offensive push from Grand Rapids prompted a change in goal for Texas, Jake Oettinger replaced Landon Bow with about five minutes remaining in the period. In hopes of getting some emotion back in the Stars bench, Tye Felhaber dropped the gloves but missed the remainder of the night due to a game misconduct. As the period was coming to a close Gavin Bayreuther fought Chase Pearson after a collision sparked the pair’s emotions.

 

Texas needed a huge comeback effort in the final 20 minutes but was unable to find the offense. The Griffins added a late goal following a power play opportunity from Brian Lashoff to extend their lead to 5-1. Bow was handed the loss stopping 12 of 16 shots before being relieved by Oettinger who stopped 7 of 8 shots. Nagle earned the win stopping a season-high 34 of 35 shots in the contest. The Stars converted on one of three opportunities, while the Griffins cashed in on one of two chances on the man advantage.

 

Texas returns to Milwaukee for a rematch with the Admirals on Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2020 at UWM Panther Arena at 7 p.m. before a weekend series with the San Antonio Rampage at on Friday and Saturday at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park.

Written by Austen Jones
Photo Credit: Grand Rapids Griffins
 

Game Info	Shots	Goaltenders	3 Stars (Xerox Business Solutions Southwest)
Boxscore	TEX: 35	W: Pat Nagle (GR)	1: Pat Nagle (GR)
Photo	GR: 24	L: Landon Bow (TEX)	2: Chris Terry (GR)
Video		ND: Jake Oettinger (TEX)	3: Evgeny Svechnikov (GR)