Stars Top Wolves in Overtime, 4-3, to Win Fourth Straight
Feb 17, 2017| Boxscore Photos Postgame Video |
Shots: Stars - 29 Wolves - 21 |
Ebert Extends Point Streak to Five Games with Game-Winner
CEDAR PARK, Texas -- With 25 seconds left in overtime, defenseman Nick Ebert sealed the deal to give the Texas Stars a 4-3 win over the Chicago Wolves on Friday night at H-E-B Center.
Ebert’s overtime-winner, which came on a 4-on-3 power play for Texas, found its way to the back of the net after he launched a shot from the top of the circle. The defenseman’s eighth goal of the season extended his point streak (3-5=8) to five games and handed the Stars their fourth straight victory.
“It was a good win for us,” said Texas Stars Head Coach Derek Laxdal. “Any win we can get with the winning percentage numbers…we want to try and keep on getting those wins no matter how you get them.”
Texas (24-20-1-2) opened up the scoring after rookie forward Mike McMurtry deflected a shot from Dustin Stevenson past Wolves netminder Jordan Binnington at 6:41 of the first period. Defenseman Morgan Ellis answered back for Chicago (29-17-4-3) with his sixth of the season at the 10:31 mark. Three minutes later, Texas regained the lead during an odd-man rush when forward Jason Dickinson sent a cross-ice feed to forward Brandon DeFazio, who blasted the puck past Binnington.
“We knew it was important to take care of these home games and equally as important to try and get another two points tomorrow,” said DeFazio. “I said a couple of games ago that guys will start playing with more confidence and you’ll see more of that come through in the way we’re playing when we start winning.”
Wolves forward Samuel Blais scored the lone goal of the second period at 1:07 to, once again, tie the game for the visiting team.
Entering the third period, Travis Morin gave the Stars a 3-2 lead after deflecting a wrist shot from the top of the circle from Dickinson, just over a minute into the frame. Then, with less than two minutes remaining in regulation, the Wolves pulled the goalie for an extra attacker and scored with 45 seconds left in regulation, thanks to a deflection from forward Ty Loney.
Texas closes out their Pink in the Rink weekend Saturday night in a rematch against Chicago at H-E-B Center at 7 p.m. CST.
Quick Hits:
- Justin Peters stopped 18 of 21 shots in net in his fourth straight win with Texas.
- Binnington stopped 25 of 29 shots in the loss for Chicago.
- The Wolves were 0-for-3 on the power play as the Stars have now killed off 22 of their last 23 penalties.
- Morin’s goal was his 17th of the season, tying him with Matej Stransky for the team lead.
- Morin is also riding a three-game point streak (2-3=5).
- Friday’s victory was the Stars’ 12th win over Chicago in their last 14 meetings, dating back to the 2013-14 season.
| Three Stars: 1. Ebert (TEX) 2. DeFazio (TEX) 3. Morin (TEX) |
Goaltenders: W - Peters L - Binnington |
Photo Credit: Andy Nietupski/Texas Stars