Rynnas Magnificent in Bounce-Back Performance, Shutting Out Barons 2-0

No matter what the circumstances, the Stars seem to bring their best game against the OKC Barons. After earning just one of six points at home this past week, the Stars handed OKC their first shutout of the year with a 2-0 victory. Vets Travis Morin and Maxime Fortunus, also the team's two AHL All-Star representatives, were the two goal scorers. Jussi Rynnas earned first-star honors with a 39-save shutout, his second shutout of the year, after being pulled on Wednesday at home. It was the first time all year that the Barons have been held without a goal.

Texas got a little help from Charlotte in the standings as they beat Toronto to keep the Marlies at 40 points. The Stars move to 41 points and 9th place in the West.

Here's the release:
A strong second period for the Texas Stars the difference on Friday night in a 2-0 shutout win over the Oklahoma City Barons at Cox Convention Center.

Travis Morin tallied the game-winner, and Maxime Fortunus also scored for Texas. Jussi Rynnas turned aside 39 shots in net for his 10th win of the season, while the Stars' special teams unit killed off three seperate penalties in the middle frame to set the tone for the road win. Scott Glennie appeared in his 200th career game as a pro and tallied an assist. It was the second shutout of the season for the Stars and Rynnas, who blanked the Utica Comets, 1-0, back on Oct. 18.

The Stars (16-13-9-0) and Barons (26-9-2-2) close out their two-game set Saturday at 7 p.m.

Afer a scoreless first period, the Stars took control on both sides of the puck in period two. Through the first 10 minutes of the frame, Texas killed off three power play opportunities for the Barons' third-ranked unit in the league. The Stars then went to work offensively as Morin opened up the game's scoring with a wrist shot from the left circle at 10:27 for his team-leading 14th of the season. Glennie tallied the assist on the goal from blocking a shot in the Stars zone and feeding Moring through neutral ice to set up the rush. Maxime Fortunus extended the lead just over six minutes later with a wrist shot from the point to make the score 2-0, Texas.

The Barons ratcheted up the effort in the third, outshooting Texas 14-10, and pulled goaltender Laurent Brossoit for the extra attacker in the game's final minute. Rynnas and the Stars weathered the storm to second the shutout win. Brossoit finished 25-of-27 in the loss.

Overall, the Stars held the Barons scoreless on five power play chances, and finished 0-for-2 after scoring four power play goals over the past two games. Texas has now given up just five power play goals over their past 21 games, and have handed Oklahoma City three of their five regulation home losses this season.

William Wrenn and Taylor Peters had the assists on the Fortunus goal for the Stars.

Tonight's lines:
McKenzie-Morin-Rallo
Ranford-Dowling-Hulak
Henderson-Root-Glennie
Stransky-Peters-Wrenn

Gaunce-Fortunus
Honka-Jokipakka
Valentine-Meech

Rynnas

Injuries, scratches, and notes:
Ritchie (call up)
Faille, Mangene, Smith (scratch)
Troock, Faksa (injury)

Tonight's attendance was 2,858.

AHL Gamesheet - Texas at Oklahoma City - January 16 2015

Comments

  1. Big win tonight. Best effort well since the last OKC game. Now we need to break the streak of dropping second of road back to backs after a win. Only bad news tonight is the potential Henderson injury. He's played very well on the PK. Interesting to see tomorrow's lineup.

    ReplyDelete
  2. By the way looks to me like Curtis and Jokipakka are headed to Dallas as injury fill-ins for Saturday night. Going to hurt us as I'm guessing we will be down those two and Henderson. Faille Mangene and Smith back in I guess.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for commenting. Remember to keep it civil. Using a name will help us identify replies and build a Texas Stars community.