Stars Win Shootout Thriller against Admirals in Milwaukee
Feb 7, 2020MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin – The Texas Stars, American Hockey League affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars, earned the 3-2 shootout victory over the Milwaukee Admirals on Friday night. Jason Robertson and Joel L’Esperance found the back of the net in the shootout and Landon Bow made two saves to secure the Stars win.
Texas hit the ice against the league-leading Admirals for the first game of a three-game weekend. Tanner Kero would be the lone goal scorer in the first frame off a deflection in front. Anthony Louis sent the puck towards the net from the left circle and Kero was on the doorstep when it deflected off of him and into the back of the cage for the one-goal advantage. Landon Bow headlined the opening period and was stellar in net, making numerous imperative saves to maintain the Stars lead. He finished the night with 33 stops in his 12th win of the season.
The Stars wasted no time in the second period. After being tied up behind the play, Kero stole the puck from Milwaukee and lead a two on one up the ice with Oula Palve. Kero collected his 15th point in the last 11 games as he slid a pass across to Palve who smashed home the goal from the right circle. It was Palve’s first goal since joining the Stars on Jan. 17th.
However, the Admirals would come storming back. Michael McCarron batted the puck out of the air on the power play to cut the lead in half with about seven minutes remaining in the period. Following that, Tommy Novak fired a shot from the left circle that slipped past Bow near the post to tie the game at 2-2 with less than a minute left in the period.
The final frame between the Stars and the Admirals featured lots of emotions and hard-fought battles for puck possession on both ends of the ice. The netminders traded stops in the period to eventually force overtime. Texas possessed the puck for almost the entire five minute period, but Connor Ingram stood on his head and forced a shootout with five saves. Overall Ingram made 34 stops on 36 shots in the game, but allowed two goals in the shootout, taking his first shootout loss of the year.
Robertson opened the shootout with a top-shelf shot on Ingram’s glove side and scoring his fifth shootout goal this season. Two rounds later, Freddy Gaudreau put the pressure on L’Esperance to end the game in the third round with a goal on Bow. The winger scored the game-winning goal on the backhand, putting it up and over Ingram’s left shoulder.
Texas was unable to convert on two opportunities on the man advantage, while Milwaukee converted on one of three chances. The Stars are now 6-2 in the shootout this season and improved to 22-21-2-2 overall this season.
The Stars continue on to face the Grand Rapids Griffins on Saturday, Feb. 8 at Van Andel Arena for their second game three nights.
Written by Austen Jones
Photo Credit: Milwaukee Admirals
| Game Info | Shots | Goaltenders | 3 Stars (Xerox Business Solutions Southwest) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boxscore | TEX: 37 | W: Landon Bow (TEX) | 1: Landon Bow (TEX) |
| Photo | MIL: 35 | SOL: Connor Ingram (MIL) | 2: Tommy Novak (MIL) |
| Video | 3: Michael McCarron (MIL) |