Curtis McKenzie Hat Trick Fuels 5-2 Dallas Win in Traverse City

Curtis McKenzie (Credit: Josh Rasmussen/Texas Stars)

The Dallas Stars prospects beat out the Blues last night 5-2 in Traverse City in their first game of the tournament. Curtis McKenzie was the big storyline in the game. He scored his first hat trick since juniors, getting one at even-strength, one on the power play and one shorthanded.

“It was a really good showing for the team,” McKenzie told Mark Stepneski of Stars Inside Edge, deflecting praise to his teammates. “It was the first time we got to play together as a whole group. It was a really strong performance by us.”

First round picks Radek Faksa and Valeri Nichushkin added the other tallies while Jack Campbell stopped 21 of 23 shots against him. Assists in the game went to Brett Ritchie, Brendan Ranford and John Klingberg. Jamie Oleksiak picked up a major for fighting and got ejected for an equipment violation. Apparently he threw off his elbow pad during the fight.

You can read Mark's full breakdown of the game on Stars Inside Edge.

Dallas is in action again tonight versus the host Red Wings. Detroit's prospects beat the Wild last night 3-1. The game starts at 6:30 PM Central. The tournament has an off day on Saturday and will resume on Sunday. Monday's game will be a 'playoff' format where each division plays the same seeded team in the opposite division. Dallas and Detroit lead the Gordie Howe division with 1-0 records.