Moose Slip Past Stars in 2-1 Final
Jan 24, 2017Boxscore
Photos
Postgame Video
Shots:
Stars - 28
Moose - 25
Morin Scores his 150th Career AHL Goal
CEDAR PARK, Texas -- Despite a third period push that saw Captain Travis Morin score his 150th career AHL goal, the Texas Stars fell 2-1 to the Manitoba Moose on Tuesday night at H-E-B Center.
Morin, whose milestone goal came 6:10 into the final period of play, has now tallied three goals in his last two games for the Stars (20-17-1-2) and is currently riding a three-game point streak (3-1=4).
Manitoba (17-19-3-2) scored both of their goals on the man-advantage courtesy of forward Dan DeSalvo. The Moose forward earned his first goal of the night came on a rebound effort, with 4:37 remaining in the first period, after forward Kyle Connor’s shot was turned aside by Texas’ rookie netminder Landon Bow.
Four minutes into the second period, DeSalvo capitalized on another rebound opportunity to score his 12th goal of the season after Bow, who made his sixth consecutive start for the Stars, swatted a shot from the right circle by Jack Roslovic away with his glove hand.
“We took too many penalties in the second period and lost a little bit of our momentum,” said Head Coach Derek Laxdal. “We gained a little bit of it back in the third, but not enough to get a push. We had a really good look late there with DeFazio in tight, but it was one of those tight games, and a frustrating game for our guys. We felt like we were the better team, but their performance obviously dictated the result.”
Morin finally put Texas on the board after Brendan Ranford and AHL All-Star selection Matej Stransky set up the Texas Captain on touch passing from behind Moose netminder Eric Comrie’s net. The Stars pulled Bow for one last push in the final minute, but Comrie and the Moose defense held on for just their second win against Texas in eight meetings dating back to last season.
“For them, I think Comrie came in here and stole the game for them,” said Laxdal. “I liked our effort 5-on-5, but we took some undisciplined penalties that put us down 5-on-3 twice. They got a bounce on their second goal. Bow tried to catch it, and it hit his hand and kicked out. For us, we came off a long stretch here. I didn’t mind our energy for that, but I expected a better result tonight.”
Bow stopped 23 of 25 shots in the loss while Comrie stopped 27 of 28 to earn the win.
The Stars host the Bakersfield Condors on Friday at 7:30 p.m. CST to open up a weekend set before the American Hockey League’s All-Star Break.
| Three Stars: 1. DeSalvo (MB) 2. Morin (TEX) 3. Ranford (TEX) |
Goaltenders: W - Comrie L - Bow |
Photo Credit: Andy Nietupski/Texas Stars