Dowling's Three Points Spark Stars to 6-2 Win
Mar 5, 2017| Boxscore Photos |
Shots: Stars - 31 Rampage - 30 |
Dowling Snaps Drought with Two-Goal Game for Texas
SAN ANTONIO -- Justin Dowling and Cole Ully each scored a pair of goals, and Justin Peters turned aside 28 shots in net, as the Texas Stars overpowered the San Antonio Rampage in a 6-2 win at AT&T Center on Sunday evening.
Matej Stransky scored the 11th shorthanded goal of the season for the Stars (26-27-1-2) as they picked up their seventh win over their I-35 rivals in 10 meetings this season. The Rampage (21-31-4-1) saw their winless skid extend to 11 games in the loss.
Texas rattled off four goals in the third period to turn a 2-1 lead into a four-goal cushion. The surge started with Dowling's second of the night at 5:55 on a break through the right circle to beat San Antonio's Spencer Martin, who finished 25 of 29 in the loss. 48 seconds later, Ully added his first of the game by deflecting Dillon Heatherington's point shot for his 10th of the season and second straight game with a goal.
Rocco Grimaldi's blast from the blue line for the Rampage pulled the game back to 4-2 with just over seven minutes to play, but Ully and Travis Morin added a pair of empty-net goal in the final segment of play to seal the win for the Stars.
After a scoreless first period, the offense opened up in the second with three combined special teams goals. With Texas on the penalty kill, Dowling picked up a loose puck in the Rampage zone and set up Matej Stransky with a crossing feed at 2:21 for the Stars' 11th shorthanded goal of the year to lead the AHL.
Dowling picked up his first of the game during a two-man advantage for the Stars later in the frame by snapping a tight-angled shot from the bottom of the circle just under the crossbar at 10:03. The strike snapped a 17-game goal-scoring drought for his sixth of the year and gave Texas a 2-0 lead.
San Antonio found the back of the net with a power-play goal of their own by AJ Greer with two minutes to play in the period.
Both teams went 1-for-2 on the power play.
| Three Stars: 1. Dowling (TEX) 2. Peters (TEX) 3. Grimaldi (SA) |
Goaltenders: W - Peters L - Martin |
Photo Credit: Darren Abate/San Antonio Rampage