Stars Lose to Admirals, 9-1
Dec 17, 2016Boxscore
Photos
Postgame Video
Shots:
Stars - 31
Admirals - 32
Travis Morin Scores the Stars Only Goal
CEDAR PARK, Texas -- If close was the word to describe Friday night’s matchup between the Texas Stars and Milwaukee Admirals, tough-to-swallow would be used to describe the Stars’ 9-1 home loss on Saturday evening.
Netminder Maxime Lagace was pulled 10 minutes into the first period for allowing the visiting Admirals to grab an early 3-0 lead. A lead that would increase by three before Captain Travis Morin scored the home team’s only goal with 45 seconds left in the middle frame.
Milwaukee, who leads the AHL’s Western Conference, scored another three goals, with forward Harry Zolnierczyk scoring the final goal of the game on a power-play late in the third, to earn a final score of 9-1.
That final score is something that will be remembered when the two teams face each other in the first weekend of April.
“There will be a little history next game because guys aren't going to forget when we were down 8-1 and they put their first power play unit on the ice,” said Head Coach Derek Laxdal. “Guys don’t forget that. Guys are upset that they were getting shown up in their own building so there are going to be a little bit of emotions there.”
Emotions after a 9-1 loss are tough to process, but the bitter pill of defeat is tougher to swallow when the loss stems from one issue Texas worked on improving prior to facing the Admirals - Defense.
“It’s a weird thing because we worked on it all week, said Alternate Captain Brandon DeFazio. “We did, we honestly did. That’s all we worked on was being better in the [defensive] zone.”
The Stars forward continued on to express the frustration that he and his team felt throughout the game.
“It’s disappointing because you work so hard on something, you want to get better at it, you know it’s a problem, you want to get better and you [lose],” said DeFazio. “So what do you do? You try to get better again. You go back, you work on it and you work on it and you come back. That’s all you can do because its unacceptable to do that at home.”
To try to utilize the team’s disappointment, Texas’ leadership group look to take a page out of Dallas Stars Captain Jamie Benn’s book as a way to rebound for their next game on December 21 against San Antonio.
“You look at any good team in the NHL, and they always respond to something like this,” said DeFazio. “You watch a guy like Jamie Benn, up top [in Dallas], always responds, always the guy leading the next charge. So, that’s on us, and I can guarantee you we’ll be ready to play.”
| Three Stars: 1. Bouche (MIL) 2. Zolnierczyk (MIL) 3. Morin (TEX) |
Goaltenders: W - Mazanec L - Lagace |
Photo Credit: Andy Nietupski/Texas Stars