Texas Stars Clinch a Calder Cup Playoff Spot and Defeat Admirals

Apr 7, 2024

CEDAR PARK, Texas – The Texas Stars, American Hockey League affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars, officially punched their ticket to the Calder Cup Playoffs minutes before the puck dropped Sunday and finished the night by defeating the Milwaukee Admirals 3-1 at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park.

The Stars will return to the postseason for the third consecutive season and tenth time in team history, with the dates and opponent still to be determined in the last two weeks of the AHL’s regular season.

The Stars heavily outshot the Admirals in the first period, 15-4, but Milwaukee broke the scoreless deadlock when Adam Wilsby ripped a shot past Matt Murray and into the top corner of the net from the high slot. Texas evened the score when Emilio Pettersen cleaned up a loose puck out of a net-mouth scramble just over a minute later. The Stars then captured the lead with 1:38 left in the frame when Nick Caamano threw a pass from the corner to Kyle McDonald in the right circle, and McDonald snapped a one-timer past Yaroslav Askarov.

Texas maintained that 2-1 lead after two periods and carried a 22-12 shots advantage into the final frame. Adding to the Stars lead, Pettersen scored his second goal of the night just over seven minutes into the third period on a power play. The Norwegian forward finished the weekend series with four points. Texas outshot Milwaukee 13-7 in the final 20 minutes to close out the 3-1 win.

Murray made 18 saves on 19 shots for his 14th win of the season, while Askarov stopped 32 of 35 in the loss.

With four games left in the regular season, the Stars travel to San Jose, California Friday at 9:00 p.m. and Saturday at 5:00 p.m. to face the Barracuda at Tech CU Arena. The team then returns home for the final two games against the Manitoba Moose on April 19-20 at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park. Tickets are available at www.texasstars.com/tickets.

Photo Credit: Logan Foust / Texas Stars

Game Info	Shots	Goaltenders	3 Stars (Ubeo Business Services)
Boxscore	TEX: 21	W: Murray (TEX)	1: Pettersen (TEX)
Photo	COL: 37	L: Askarov (MIL)	2: McDonald (TEX)
Video			3: Murray (TEX)