Bears score five unanswered, win 6-3 over Stars

Texas Stars captain Landon Wilson prepares for a faceoff during Game 3 against the Hershey Bears. (Photo credit: James Mitchell)

The defending Calder Cup champions showed tonight why they hold that title as the Bears rallied back to stomp the Stars 6-3 in Game 3. Texas opened a 2 goal lead on the Bears early but allowed five unanswered goals in the second and third period in the loss. Winger Francis Wathier reminded the media, "We knew coming into the series that nothing was going to be easy."

Texas had a great first period. The Stars outshot the BEars 11-6 en route to a 3-1 lead after 20. Texas got an early power play goal from Andrew Hutchinson, which deflected off the skate of Kyle Wilson to make it 1-0. Wilson avenged his misdeed as Hershey evened it up just five minutes later. An attempted breakout pass by Maxime Fortunus was intercepted on the boards at the blue line to create a 2-on-1 that ended with the puck in the net.

Texas's grinders took over in the second half of the first. With the Stars on the penalty kill, Francis Wathier skated in low to pressure Michal Neuvirth as he handled the puck. Neuvirth whiffed on the out pass, and Wathier easily roofed the puck for a shorthanded marker. Texas ended the period with a Ray Sawada goal on a 2-on-1 with Scott McCulloch.

And if you're weak of heart, you may want to stop reading at this point. The rest of the game was very forgettable for the Stars. "The last 30 minutes we got outworked," commented Coach Gulutzan. Gulutzan pinned the turning point of the game at the Greg Amadio minor penalty that the Stars did not convert on early in the second. With a 4-1 lead, the game would have mostly been salted away. The kill gave the Bears momentum, which they used to strike back.

Unanswered goals from Kyle Wilson, Mathieu Perreault (2) and Andrew Gordon (2) sent the Stars to the locker room with their series lead cut in half. The mantra in the room was that it was better to lose this way than in triple OT. The Stars now have a chance to recover before Game 4. Several players and Coach Gulutzan pinned part of the issue on long travel. The Stars had to bus from Hershey to Philadelphia then fly from there to a connector to Austin. It is certain a contributing factor, but the first period showed that the Stars had it in them.

So what now for Game 4? "The only thing that we can control is their transition," commented Wathier, "We gotta make sure that at both blue lines we're putting the puck deep." Texas crushed the Bears offensive transition in Games 1 and 2. Because they didn't tonight, we saw the full-powered Hershey offense unleashed.

Texas had seven power play opportunities in the game and only scored on one. Early the Bears were taking penalties left and right, clearly frustrated with their play. The Stars need to take advantage at key junctures, as Coach Gulutzan commented to seize momentum.

"This time of year, you can't change things drastically," added Coach. "We'd like to keep [scoring] low. We have to keep them under 3 goals."

Tonight's lines
Benn-Gagnon-Sceviour
Wathier-Peters-Sawada
McCulloch-Morin-Rallo
Wilson-Lindgren-Beaudoin

Jancevski-Stephenson
Graham-Stafford
Fortunus-Hutchinson

Climie

Injuries, scratches, and notes:
Krahn (concussion)
Chupp, Korostin, Shelast, Ty. Ludwig, Tr. Ludwig, Gazdic (scratched)

Tonight's attendance was 7,014. Tonight's attendance was a record for the Cedar Park Center and definitely had an effect on the players, which they commented on. Coach Gulutzan on the crowd: "I wish we could have had a better result [for the crowd]. What a great thing for Cedar Park and Austin to have a crowd like this!" Word is that Wednesday's game is already selling as standing room only.

AHL Gamesheet - Texas v. Hershey - June 7 2010

Comments

  1. Our Stars have a bad habit of thinking a game is done before that final buzzer...I lost count of how many games I came to during the regular season thinking it would be an easy win, just to have us lose because the Stars apparently thought they'd already won the game and didn't fight for it. Have to wonder if an early lead in a game that could have made us 3-0 didn't trigger that kind of thinking again. Looking forward to seeing them fight for it again on Wednesday :)

    And why on EARTH did they have to fly out of Philly?? Even Baltimore would have been closer! I'd like to know if the Bears had to make a 2+ hour trek to the airport to fly out too...

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  2. AS far as flight plans for the Bears,they had a charter flight out of Harrisburg.

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  3. Go Stars!
    Don' t let 'sweet'
    Bears force a penalty on you ;-)!!
    When you have only few penalties, you score and skate much better!

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  4. Any news on Hutchinson? He looked in trouble and left before the period was over. He did not return. That would be a key loss for our Stars if he cannot return for Wednesday's game.

    And you must wonder what happened between Landon and Amadio. Our captain is typically a calm and composed player. Leaving the penalty box was nuts...will this result in further penalties, like a suspension? Stay tuned.

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  5. Im going down to cedar park for the first time to see wednesdays game, and am so excited! I'm a season ticket holder up in Dallas and was wondering if the Texas Stars are accessible after the game or before the game for autographs. I know there are a few opportunities in Dallas, such as open practices, and sometimes you can catch the boys before the game. Any advice would be more than welcome!

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  6. @StarryEyed: BWI isn't closer to Hershey than the Philly airport. Just FYI. Also: The Bears traveled to Manitoba, and vice versa, last year for the final round...a bit longer trip than Texas...
    Also: why didn't they just fly out of Harrisburg?

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  7. @Anonymous: The actual mileage is about the same, but the drive to Baltimore takes less time. Also, I wasn't commenting at all on the distance of the flight, so I'm not sure why you're bringing Manitoba into it (besides, Austin is further from Hershey than Winnipeg...) All I'm saying is that the Bears would have been significantly more rested arriving in Austin than the Stars.

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  8. Why didn't they just fly out of Harrisburg??

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