Stars Steamroll Rampage in 7-4 Victory
Mar 10, 2019|
Dahill Office Technology Corporation Three Stars: Shots: Goaltenders: |
CEDAR PARK, Texas – The Texas Stars, American Hockey League affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars, battled the San Antonio Rampage for the 11th time this season, and came out on top of a 7-4 victory, earning two crucial points in the Central Division standings. Four Stars earned multi-point games, alongside 11 other players recording a point. Landon Bow stood strong for his team, stopping 21 shots on 25 attempts by the Rampage for his 22nd win of the year.
Texas controlled the game for the first 10 minutes, firing eight shots at Rampage goaltender, Jared Coreau, and holding the Rampage to just one shot in that time. The Stars were finally rewarded for their efforts at 8:26 when Nicholas Caamano opened scoring. Niklas Hansson made a pass across the blue line to Dillon Heatherington who carried the puck to the left circle and fired a shot at the net. The puck rebounded off the left pad of Coreau and met the Caamano’s stick. The forward was able to gain control and beat Coreau to light the lamp. Five minutes later, Ryan Olsen evened the score, finding the back of the net on a 2-on-1 with Austin Poganski.
The Stars got their first power play opportunity with five minutes remaining in the period, and Caamano cashed in again. Denis Gurianov made his way through three Rampage skaters to set up Caamano who redirected a pass between the post and leg of Coreau. The Stars would eventually convert on 2-of-3 chances on the man advantage and hold San Antonio on 1-of-2 power play opportunities.
Just three minutes into the second period, the Stars extended their lead to 3-1 when Colin Markison got ahold of a loose puck in the zone and fired it straight into the net for his seventh goal of the season. Moments later, Gavin Bayreuther fed a pass to Erik Condra on the power play. The veteran forward held his position in the right circle and shot a rocket into the top right corner for Texas’ fourth goal of the night.
The Rampage fought back towards the end of the middle frame, as Olsen converted his second goal of the game on a shorthanded breakaway opportunity, cutting his team’s deficit to 4-2.
With less than two minutes until the intermission, Adam Mascherin won a faceoff in the offensive zone and dished the puck to Colton Hargrove. The fourth-year skater was able to get through traffic and fire a one-timer through the legs of San Antonio’s netminder to regain the three goal advantage.
The Stars wasted no time in the third period, scoring just 30 seconds after the puck dropped. Joel Hanley’s shot from the point snuck through traffic and straight past Ville Husso who entered the third period in relief. The second shot onto the new netminder put Texas in front 6-2. San Antonio would net a power play goal on the team’s second chance when Mitch Reinke sent a shot past Bow at 5:17.
As icing on the cake, Hansson added to the goal parade, firing a puck from Tony Calderone top-shelf past Husso for his third point of the night. The blue liner now has ten points in his last nine games with back-to-back, career high three-point outings. Ninety seconds before the final horn, Tanner Kaspick would score the last goal of the game to make it a 7-4 final but the game was well out of reach for the Rampage.
Coreau was saddled with the loss in his first contest against the Stars, making 24 saves through two periods. Husso was credited with four saves on six shots in relief. Texas and San Antonio will play the final three games of their season series in the final week of the regular season as Texas holds a 7-3-1-0 record this season.
Photo Credit: Andy Nietupski