Stars Surge Past Admirals in Game One

May 2, 2024

CEDAR PARK, Texas – The Texas Stars, American Hockey League affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars, overcame a 2-0 first period deficit and stormed to a 6-3 win over the Milwaukee Admirals in Game One of the Central Division Semifinals on Thursday at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park.

 

Milwaukee opened the scoring when Phil Tomasino raced in all alone on a breakaway and beat Remi Poirier 6:17 into the game. The Admirals made it 2-0 when Fedor Svechkov jammed a loose rebound into the net just past the midway point of the period. Less than two minutes later, Stars captain Curtis McKenzie sniped a shot into the top corner of the net to cut the deficit to one heading into the first intermission.

 

Texas evened the score at 2-2 when Matthew Seminoff redirected a Gavin Bayreuther shot in the slot past Admirals goaltender Yaroslav Askarov just 2:47 into the middle frame. Emilio Pettersen then put the Stars in the lead for the first time at 8:28 in what was a big night for his line. A late centering attempt by Milwaukee’s Cal O’Reilly ricocheted off of a Stars defender and in to tie the score at 3-3 with 1:45 left in the period.

 

Matej Blumel gave Texas the lead for good with a laser of a shot from the top of the left circle 4:27 into the final frame, and Pettersen scored his second of the night to make it 5-3 with 7:07 remaining. League MVP Mavrik Bourque completed his second four-point night (1-3=4) of these playoffs with an empty net goal in the final minute.

 

McKenzie was named the game’s first star with three points (1-2=3) and a +5 rating. Poirier stopped 15 of 18 shots to stay unbeaten in the postseason, while Askarov allowed five goals on 29 shots in the loss.

 

The Stars and Admirals drop the puck in Game Two of the best-of-five series at 7:00 p.m. Saturday at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park. Tickets are on sale at www.texasstars.com/tickets. The series then shifts to Milwaukee for Game Three, and if necessary, Games Four and Five at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.

The Texas Stars are the primary development affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars. For more information, call (512) GO-STARS (467-8277) or visit TexasStars.com.

Photo Credit: Ross Bonander

Game Info	Shots	Goaltenders	3 Stars (Ubeo Business Services)
Boxscore	TEX: 30	W: Poirier (TEX)	1: McKenzie (TEX)
Photo	MIL: 18	L: Askarov (MIL)	2: Pettersen (TEX)
Video			3: Bourque (TEX)