Stars Score Four Unanswered to Stun Monsters

Mar 27, 2021

CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Texas Stars, American Hockey League affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars, turned things around after trailing 3-0 to Cleveland and rallied for a 4-3 win in their second of three games against the Monsters at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Texas is now 6-2-0-0 in eight games away from Cedar Park this season.

 

After digging themselves a three-goal hole, Texas turned the tide with a successful penalty kill. The Stars fed off the momentum early in the second period and would score less than a minute after stopping the Monsters power play. Adam Mascherin and Nick Baptiste broke up the ice on a 2-on-1 nearly eight minutes into the second period and put the puck past Brad Thiessen for the team’s first goal of the night. The passing play ended with Mascherin batting the puck into the net from the left post for his team-leading ninth goal of the season. Baptiste extended his point streak to eight games on the play and now has 12 points (6-6=12) in that stretch.

 

The Stars power play helped close the gap in the game as a lucky bounce off the boards came out in front of the net with Thiessen in the trapezoid. Ben Gleason dumped the puck into the zone and Josh Melnick cut to the front of the crease as it skipped off the wall. With no goaltender in the net, Melnick’s fifth of the season was tapped in easily to make it 2-1 with less than 40 seconds before the second intermission. Texas finished the game 1-for-3 on the power play and have scored goals on the man advantage in three consecutive games.

 

The third period opened with the Stars tying the game at 3-3. Texas turned the puck up the ice between Mascherin and Riley Damiani before the rookie center fired a shot off the post. The loose puck came to Baptiste in the right circle where he hammered a shot toward the net. His chance bounced off of the legs of Adam Clendening before beating Thiessen less than five minutes into the final period.

 

The Stars penalty kill was again required in the third and forced to hold strong on a 5-on-3. Not only did Texas kill off the entire pair of penalties, but also scored a shorthanded goal in the process. Riley Tufte broke up the ice but then launched the puck back to Thomas Harley to kill some time on the clock. The defenseman found Derek Barach on a 100 foot pass and the center collected it in the offensive zone. The former Monster teed up a slap shot and blasted home a shorthanded goal for his third of the season and the eventual game winning tally. Texas was perfect on the penalty kill in the game on all five Cleveland power plays.

 

Colton Point was solid in net throughout the night, finishing the third period with 12 saves and a game total of 32 stops against the Monsters for his fourth win of the year. Thiessen suffered the loss while making 19 saves, his fourth loss this  year.

 

Cleveland jumped on the board first in the game as Kole Sherwood was able to give them the first of three consecutive goals. Sherwood danced into the offensive zone and let a shot fly from the left circle before it sailed past Point eight minutes into the game.

 

Sherwood’s first of the season was followed by a continued push in the second period by the Monsters. Carson Meyer scored the first of two goals that were separated by just 35 seconds, benefiting from a rebound in front of the crease. Following Point’s initial save, Meyer bat home the rebound for his third goal of the year. Quickly after, Liam Foudy and Tyler Angle connected on a turnover before Foudy ripped home his first goal of the year.

 

Texas and Cleveland play the rubber match tomorrow, Sunday, Mar. 28, 2021 at 3 p.m. CT as the teams have split the weekend with one win each.

Photo Credit: Cleveland Monsters

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Game Info	Shots	Goaltenders	3 Stars (Xerox Business Solutions Southwest)
Boxscore	TEX: 23	W: Colton Point (TEX)	1: Derek Barach (TEX)
Photo	CLE: 35	L: Brad Thiessen (CLE)	2: Nick Baptiste (TEX)
Video			3: Liam Foudy (CLE)