Texas Stars Open Season with 2-1 Win in Alamo City

Two first period goals were all the Stars needed to start the Willie Desjardins era off with a "W". Cristopher Nilstorp had a win in his first North American game with an 18 save effort. Goals from the Stars captain Maxime Fortunus and wily veteran Toby Petersen won the night for Texas. The Stars had eight power play opportunities in the game and came up empty on all eight after going 8/24 in the preseason.

The captain, Maxime Fortunus, opened up the scoring in the first period with a goal through traffic at the 4:49 mark of the frame. Cody Eakin had his first point as a Star, assisting on the play. Another veteran, Toby Petersen, added his own first tally of the season with four minutes left in the first period. Again through traffic, Dov Grumet-Morris didn't have a chance on the goal, assisted by Jordie Benn.

Penalty trouble haunted the Rampage in the second and third periods. Shots were 12-5 thanks to three Texas power plays in the period. The Stars were unable to take advantage of any of the three opportunities. It wasn't for lack of trying, as Tomas Vincour had 6 shots through the first forty, adding a seventh as the third started.

The Stars had a fair bit of power play time in the third period as well, with Eric Selleck railroaded Luke Gazdic at 6:28 of the third period. Selleck was assessed a five minute major and a game misconduct for the hit. However, Texas was unable to score on the ensuing major penalty power play. Despite an added minor for interference, taking it to a 5-on-3 power play, the Stars could not find the back of the net. An eighth power play opportunity also came up short with Dov Grumet-Morris having a great game.

The Stars had a scare at the end of the game as Drew Shore broke up the shutout bid and made it a one-goal game with 56 seconds left in the game. The goal came on the 6-on-4 PP. Jordie Benn took a penalty with 6.9 seconds left to make it interesting, but the win stood.

Tonight's lines:
R.Smith-Eakin-Vincour
Fraser-Morin-Hedden
Wathier-Petersen-Chiasson
Gazdic-Roussel-Tousignant

Barker-Fortunus
Dillon-Benn
Nemeth-Oleksiak

Nilstorp

Injuries, scratches, and notes:
A. Smith, Vause, Glennie, Labrie, Coyle, Sloan (scratch)
Sceviour (injury)

Tonight's attendance was 7,439.

AHL Gamesheet - Texas at San Antonio - October 13 2012

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