Stars Upended Late by Marlies

Mar 2, 2020

CEDAR PARK, Texas – The Texas Stars, American Hockey League affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars, suffered a 3-2 defeat to the Toronto Marlies on Monday evening. The Marlies' comeback was fueled by two late power play goals in the third period from Pontus Aberg and Kenny Agostino.

 

The rescheduled game from Jan. 10 was the fourth matchup between Texas and Toronto this season and the Stars wasted no time finding the back of the net for an early lead. Nick Caamano skated up the right side and as he fended off two defenders, sent an unconventional backhand towards the Marlies netminder that slipped between him and the post to for the only goal in the first period.

 

More than 30 minutes were played before the next goal was scored. The Stars showed relentless pressure in the offensive zone throughout the game and were finally rewarded on a wraparound chance with five minutes left in the middle period. Riley Tufte attempted a wraparound on the left post but was held off by Joseph Woll and the Marlies defense. Joel L’Esperance then corralled the loose puck for his own wraparound bid on the other side that he hammered home to give the Stars a two-goal lead going into the third.

 

Roughly eight minutes into the final period, Toronto began to storm back. Following a deflection, Jake Oettinger had trouble locating a loose in his pads and Garrett Wilson was there to find it and cut the Stars lead in half. About six minutes later, Texas was in penalty trouble. After four consecutive penalty kills, Aberg found the equalizer on the man advantage. The Marlies strung together some quick passes that found Aberg alone on the left side of the crease. With about 3 minutes remaining in the game, the Marlies got another look on the power play and Kenny Agostino would find a loose puck behind Oettinger to score the game-winning tally for Toronto.

 

Texas finished the night with four penalty kills on six situations and was 0-for-4 on the power play. Oettinger took the loss in his 11^th straight appearance in goal, stopping 28 of 31 shots. Woll registered the win with 28 saves on the 30 shots he faced.

 

The Stars go back to work on Wednesday, Mar. 4 to face the Milwaukee Admirals in the final game of a nine-game homestand. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. for the seventh meeting of the season between the clubs.

 

Written by Austen Jones

Photo Credit: Andy Nietupski
 

Game Info	Shots	Goaltenders	3 Stars (Xerox Business Solutions Southwest)
Boxscore	TEX: 30	W: Joseph Woll (TOR)	1: Kenny Agostino (TOR)
Photo	TOR: 31	L: Jake Oettinger (TEX)	2: Nick Caamano (TEX)
Video			3: Joseph Woll (TOR)