Andersson's Hat Trick Upsets Texas 4-2

The Stars were outshot, outmuscled and ultimately outscored in this one against the Grand Rapids Griffins tonight. The Griffins' Joakim Andersson potted a hat trick against the Stars, and Francis Pare had an assist on each tally. The Stars got goals from Shawn Weller and Matt Fraser in the game. Jack Campbell had 30 saves on 34 shots.

The Texas net was shelled once again early in the game as Jack Campbell faced 17 shots in the first period. He stopped all but the last as Grand Rapids found the net on a power play late in the period. It was Joakim Andersson's 19th of the season and came with just 55 seconds left in the first. Texas only managed six shots in the period.

Just three minutes later, though with an intermission in between, Andersson potted his 20th of the year off a one-timer from Tomas Tatar. The Stars would get one back from their fourth liners just 90 seconds later. Shawn Weller collected his second goal as a Texas Star off a rebound from a Michael Forney shot. Secondary scoring has been a deficiency for Texas this year. It was a promising sign, but it would only matter if Texas got some more help.

Grand Rapids regained their two goal lead as Garnet Exelby found a rebound out in the front of the Texas net for his sixth goal of the year. Less than 60 seconds later, the Stars would answer thanks to their leading scorer. Matt Fraser snapped a puck past Tom McCollum off a faceoff to cut the Griffins' lead to 3-2.

The Griffins would add a final nail in the last five minutes with Joakim Andersson completing the hat trick. Francis Pare assisted on all three of Andersson's goals.

Tonight's lines:
Wathier-Sceviour-Chiasson
Fraser-Morin-Smith
Hedden-Glennie-Gazdic
Esposito-Weller-Forney

Dillon-Benn
Labrie-Schiestel
Coyle-Spang

Campbell

Injuries, scratches, and notes:
Vause, Schultz, Tousignant (long-term injury)
Fortunus, Lukowich (day-to-day injury)
Godard, Raycroft (scratch)

Tonight's attendance was 8,457.

AHL Gamesheet - Texas at Grand Rapids - April 4 2012

Comments

  1. They looked scattered, disorganized, without a plan. Another bad game.
    Ross

    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.