Stars Net Four Unanswered Goals to Top Griffins 4-2

Feb 29, 2020

CEDAR PARK, Texas – The Texas Stars, American Hockey League affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars, completed a thrilling 4-2 comeback win over the Grand Rapids Griffins on Saturday night. Texas’ victory was fueled by an offensive explosion that led to four unanswered goals. 

 

The teams fought through 16 scoreless minutes before Grand Rapids tallied their first of two power play goals. From the top of the left circle, Matt Puempel made a cross-ice pass to Joe Veleno who ripped a goal in between Jake Oettinger and the post. Grand Rapids then got a second chance on the power play with seconds remaining in the opening frame. After the intermission, the Griffins continued play on the man advantage and chased in once again to extend their lead to 2-0. Michael Rasmussen tapped in a puck on the back door from Puempel’s pass for his seventh goal of the year.

 

Texas quickly answered back with a pair of second period goals to level the score ahead of the third period. After a faceoff win, Rhett Gardner’s shot was blocked and rolled to Riley Tufte who then swiftly tucked a goal into the net past Calvin Pickard. Six minutes later, Ondrej Vala leveled the score as he collected a cross-ice pass from Jason Robertson and ripped a laser into the top corner of the net for his first AHL goal.

 

Texas held onto the momentum in the third period as they added two more goals to fuel a thrilling comeback win. Josh Melnick battled behind the net and pushed through a Griffins defender, allowing Gardner to grab the puck and sneak it between Pickard’s skate and the post. Shortly thereafter, Tye Felhaber and Robertson rushed the zone against a pair of Grand Rapids defenders. Felhaber then dished the puck to Robertson before breaking up the defense, allowing Robertson to take on Pickard and net his 22^nd goal of the season. 

 

Oettinger held it down for Texas as he worked for an 18-save victory. Pickard suffered the loss after surrendering four goals on Texas’ 27 shots. The Stars couldn’t cash in despite three chances on the man advantage while both of the Griffins goals came via the power play on four opportunities.

Written By Stevie Golding
Photo Credit: Tyler Schmidt 

Game Info	Shots	Goaltenders	3 Stars (Xerox Business Solutions Southwest)
Boxscore	TEX: 27	W: Jake Oettinger (TEX)	1: Rhett Gardner (TEX)
Photo	GR: 20	L: Calvin Pickard (GR)	2: Jason Robertson (TEX)
Video			3: Ondrej Vala (TEX)