Texas Stars Drop 3-in-3 Finale Against Hamilton

Texas dropped their final game before the Christmas break by a 5-2 final in Hamilton. Greg Rallo got a goal to stay hot with four in his last five games. Still, Texas dropped the contest with Jack Campbell taking a loss, stopping 22 of 26 shots.

Here's the release:
A late power play goal in the third period by Greg Rallo gave the Texas Stars life, but an empty-net goal for the Hamilton Bulldogs put the finishing touch on a 5-2 final at FirstOntario Centre on Sunday afternoon to close out the Texas three-game weekend.

Working with a four-minute power play late in the third, Rallo buried a rebound goal at 13:23 to make it a 4-2 deficit for the Stars. Staying on the power play for another two minutes, the Stars (11-9-8-0) opted for the extra attacker to try and cut the deficit to one, but Drayson Bowman scored an empty-net goal with 2:24 left in regulation to seal the win for the Bulldogs (14-11-5-0).

Curtis McKenzie tallied an assist in his return to the Texas lineup after being reassigned by the NHL's Dallas Stars on Friday. Matt Mangene had an assist for his second straight game after signing with the Stars on Saturday.

Jack Campbell took the loss, stopping 22 shots. Dustin Tokarski was 29-of-31 in net for the Bulldogs in the win.

Texas visits the San Antonio Rampage on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

Darren Dietz opened up the scoring with a wrist shot from the point at 5:05 of the first period to give Hamilton the early lead.

In the second, Connor Crisp made it a 2-0 deficit for the Stars, deflecting a point shot by Davis Drewiske past Campbell at 10:04. 10 seconds later Justin Dowling responded for Texas after driving the right circle and snapping a wrist shot home for his eight of the season. Derek Hulak set up Dowling for the rush on a cross-ice feed at center ice to earn the assist.

The Bulldogs jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the third as Jake Dowell scored on a shorthanded break at 2:51, and then Maxime Macenauer added his fourth of the year nearly five minutes later.

The Stars finished 1-for-7 on the power play and held the Bulldogs scoreless on five opportunites. Texas has given up just three power play goals in their opponents' last 44 chances.

Derek Meech tallied a point for the second straight game for the Stars, assisting on Rallo's goal.

Tonight's lines:
McKenzie-Faksa-Rallo
Smith-Dowling-Hulak
Ranford-Root-Glennie
Henderson-Stransky

Gaunce-Fortunus
Meech-Honka
Valentine-Mangene
Wrenn

Campbell

Injuries, scratches, and notes:
Morin, Jokipakka (call up)
Troock (injury)
Stefishen, Hardowa, Peters, Ritchie (scratch)

Tonight's attendance was 2,742.

AHL Gamesheet - Texas at Hamilton - December 21 2014

Comments

  1. So why is Daxdal scratching forwards for an extra defenseman? I'm confused. Why wouldn't he want to roll a full 4 lines? I thought the guys were over the flu bug for the most part.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you've got a guy like Ritchie scratched twice in a row, it's going to be something with health. That's not a voluntary scratch.

      Delete

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