Stars Improve Playoff Positioning in 6-2 Blowout of Milwaukee
Mar 15, 2015CEDAR PARK, Texas -- Consecutive goals by Kevin Henderson and Scott Valentine against their former club sparked the Texas Stars offense into a 6-2 rout over the visiting Milwaukee Admirals on Sunday evening in front of 4,036 at Cedar Park Center.
Henderson and Valentine appeared in a combined 339 games over the previous three seasons for Milwaukee, but Henderson's goal at 10:58 of the first and Valentine's at 4:30 of the second turned a tie game into a 3-1 lead for Texas and they never looked back. Brendan Ranford scored twice for the Stars (28-18-13-1) and Jack Campbell stopped 36 of 38 shots in net to earn the win. The Stars now control seventh place in the AHL's Western Conference, passing the Hamilton Bulldogs with the win, and sit one point back of sixth-place Milwaukee (31-22-5-4) after sweeping the two-game weekend.
Texas closes out their seven-game homestand on Tuesday against the Lake Erie Monsters at 7:30 p.m.
The offense came in bunches in period one as Ranford opened up the scoring, lifting a backhand shot from the right circle past Marek Mazanec at 9:11. Viktor Arvidsson quickly struck back for Milwaukee on a breakaway 58 seconds later, but Henderson added his fourth of the year from the front of the net on an Admiral turnover at 10:58 to regain the lead for the Stars at 2-1. The teams exchanged goals in a span of 1:47 for the period's only offense.
In the second, a misplayed Milwaukee puck at the Texas blue line sprung Scott Valentine on a breakaway as the veteran defenseman was tripped off balance, but still found a way to chip in his second of the year to make it 3-1. In another quick rush of offense, Scott Glennie extended the Texas lead from the front of the net 49 seconds later for his 11th of the season and his second straight game with a goal. Ranford tallied his second of the night and 15th of the year in the dying seconds of the middle frame on a rebound at the right side of the crease off Matt Mangene's shot.
Carrying a 5-1 lead into the third, Texas' Derek Hulak extended his goal-scoring streak to four games, snapping home his 16th of the season from the left circle just 17 seconds in. Arvidsson added another for Milwaukee with just under seven minutes to play, but the scoring would end there as the Stars cruised to their third straight win.
Mazanec suffered his second loss of the weekend, going 11 of 16 in net for Milwaukee. Magnus Hellberg relieved the Milwaukee netminder for the third period, stopping eight shots.
Neither team scored a power play goal as Texas finished 0-for-2, Milwaukee was 0-for-3.
Justin Dowling and Branden Troock each registered a pair of assists for multi-point nights along with Ranford. Texas has outscored their opponents 16-9 during their three-game win streak.
Photo Credit: Christina Shapiro/Texas Stars
| Three Stars: 1. Brendan Ranford (TEX) 2. Jack Campbell (TEX) 3. Kevin Henderson (TEX) |
Shots: Stars - 38 Admirals - 24 |
Goaltenders: W - Campbell L - Mazanec |