Stars Stay Hot in 3-1 Win Over Toronto
Feb 21, 2015TORONTO, Ontario -- Two goals in the opening minutes of the third period and another strong performance in net by Jussi Rynnas propelled the Texas Stars to a 3-1 win over the Toronto Marlies in the regular season finale between the two clubs in front 5,183 fans on Saturday afternoon at Ricoh Coliseum.
Scott Glennie and Eric Faille each scored in the opening 4:29 of the third to open up a 3-0 lead for the Stars. Faille's goal was the first of his AHL career, and came after he was initially credited with the Stars' opening goal, but credit was changed to Kevin Henderson. Rynnas stopped 31 of 32 shots for his 18th win of year, and was less than two minutes away from his fifth shutout of the season before Toronto (21-21-9-0) scored their lone goal with 1:37 remaining.
Texas (25-17-10-1) closes out their six-game road trip on Tuesday, when they visit the Oklahoma City Barons for the final matchup ever between the two clubs as the Barons will relocate the AHL's new Pacific Division next year in Bakersfield, Cali.
Texas opened up the scoring as Henderson tipped home his first goal of the season off Jamie Oleksiak's point shot at 11:59 of the first.
The offense remained quiet in period two as both Rynnas and Toronto's Christopher Gibson went save-for-save with Rynnas turning aside 13 shots from the Marlies. Gibson stopped 11, and took the loss with 29 saves overall in the game.
With a power play early in the third, Gemel Smith fed Glennie for his seventh of the season on a backdoor pass to make it a 2-0 lead for Texas at 3:54. 35 seconds later, Faille buried his first of the year off a turnover in the right circle of the offensive zone by crossing the front of the net to drag Gibson out of position for an easy tap in. Matt Mangene also tallied an assist on Glennie's goal.
The Texas special team's units continued their strong play finishing 1-for-2 on the power play and scoring a man-advantage goal for the 14th time in their last 18 games. The Stars killed off all three Toronto power plays, and have been perfect on the penalty kill in 17 of their last 18 road contests.
Rynnas improved his record to 5-1-0 over his last six games, giving up two goals or less in five of those matchups. Texas is now 4-1-0-0 on their road trip and has won six of their last eight games.
Photo Credit: Toronto Marlies
| Three Stars: 1. Jussi Rynnas (TEX) 2. Eric Faille (TEX) 3. Scott Glennie (TEX) |
Shots: Stars - 32 Marlies - 32 |
Goaltenders: W - Rynnas L - Gibson |