First-Period Burst Powers Texas to 4-3 Win
Apr 5, 2017| Boxscore Photos Postgame Video |
Shots: Stars - 22 Condors - 19 |
Caamano Tallies First Career Point for Texas
CEDAR PARK, Texas -- The Texas Stars opened up a pair of three-goal leads in the game and held off a late push from the Bakersfield Condors to take home a 4-3 win on Wednesday night at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park.
The Stars (32-34-1-4) scored their first three goals of the night on five shots in the opening 10 minutes, chasing away Bakersfield (31-25-5-1) goaltender Nick Ellis. Cole Ully's second-period goal held up as the game-winner, and rookie forward Nick Caamano tallied his first career point with an assist in his Texas debut.
“It was a great experience,” said Caamano. “This was one of the [most fun] nights I’ve ever had playing the game. It was great to get the first one under my belt. The guys were really great to me. It was just a fun experience.”
Texas drew first with a pair of goals 14 seconds apart when Ethan Werek capped off an odd-man rush at 5:23 and Caleb Herbert finished off a two-man rush with Ully at 5:37. On a Bakersfield turnover midway through the period, Caamano chipped the puck from the bottom of the right circle in front to Austin Fyten for his sixth of the year after missing the last five games with an injury.
The Condors pulled their starter Ellis for backup Jonas Gustavsson after Texas built a 3-0 lead on their first seven shots. Mark Fraser stopped the bleeding with a minute left in the first for Bakersfield to make it a 3-1 score.
Ully added his 12th of the year 5:50 into the second when Matt Mangene's tip effort in front slipped through Gustavsson and sat loose in the goal crease for an easy tip-in goal to make it 4-1, Texas. The Condors began their push back at 9:14 on a goal from Brodie Dupont.
“It’s that time of year where everyone is playing with that desperation, and that includes ourselves,” said Ully. “We’re playing with that never say die attitude. We’re just going out every night and doing the best we can.”
Nine minutes into the third, Bakersfield rookie Joe Gambardella, also making his professional debut, buried his first career goal to cut the gap to one, but the Stars shut the door the rest of the way to seal the win.
“If you listen to Lindy [Ruff] up in Dallas, he talks about the young energy,” said Head Coach Derek Laxdal. “It’s the same thing down here. You bring these young players in, and they the bring fresh energy to your group. They’ve got good young legs, they’re excited to be here and they’re excited to play. I think that’s effective for the whole group. It’s great having those guys in.”
Texas hits the road for a weekend pair against the Charlotte Checkers beginning Saturday at 5 p.m. CST.
QUICK HITS:
-Justin Peters earned the win stopping 16 of 19 shots in net for Texas
-Nick Ellis stopped 2 of 5 shots before being replaced by Gustavsson
-Gustavsson ended up suffering the loss despite stopping 14 of 15 shots in just under 49 minutes of action
-Texas went 0-for-2 on the power play while Bakersfield went 0-for-3
| Three Stars: 1. Ully (TEX) 2. Fyten (TEX) 3. Mangene (TEX) |
Goaltenders: W - Peters L - Gustavsson |
Photo Credit: Andy Nietupski/Texas Stars