Griffins Top Stars by 4-1 Final
Mar 16, 2016Boxscore
Photos
Postgame Video
Shots:
Stars - 41
Griffins - 29
Dowling's Five-Game Point Streak Comes to an End for Texas
CEDAR PARK, Texas -- Tom McCollum’s 40-save performance was the key as the Grand Rapids Griffins topped the Texas Stars by a 4-1 final on Wednesday night in front of 5,305 in attendance at Cedar Park Center.
The Stars (35-22-5-3) hit three goal posts in the game as part of their struggles to solve the Grand Rapids netminder. The win was Grand Rapids 12th straight. Gemel Smith was the lone goal-scorer for the Stars, and Maxime Lagace suffered just his eighth loss of the year with 25 saves.
Texas will host Grand Rapids (40-20-1-1) again on Saturday at 7 p.m. CST.
Grand Rapids tallied an early 1-0 lead on a Ryan Sproul slap shot from the left point that evaded Lagace at 1:22, but the Stars wasted no time rallying back. Cole Ully smacked a wrist-shot from the slot that bounced in front of a diving McCollum, and set up Smith on the doorstep to tap in his 12th goal of the season at 2:12.
The Griffins reclaimed the lead 2-1 at 8:32 when Brian Lashoff’s shot from the left point was redirected by Tomas Nosek for his 13th of the year.
Grand Rapids staked a 3-1 lead in the second period at 9:29 when Eric Tangradi flipped a backhand shot on a loose rebound in the crease past Lagace. The Griffins gained a 4-1 advantage at 3:08 of the third with Zach Nastasiuk’s first career AHL goal from the left side of the goal crease, and McCollum shut the door the rest of the way as Texas outshot the Griffins 19-5 in the final frame.
Texas finished 0-for-6 on the power play. Grand Rapids did not earn a power play chance in the game.
The Texas Stars are the primary development affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars and currently in their seventh season at Cedar Park Center. Full season, 24-game and 12-game ticket packages for the 2015-16 campaign are on sale now. For more information, call (512) GO-STARS (467-8277) or visit TexasStars.com.
| Three Stars: 1. Ryan Sproul (GR) 2. Tom McCollum (GR) 3. Gemel Smith (TEX) |
Goaltenders: W - McCollum L - Lagace |
Photo Credit: Christina Shapiro/Texas Stars