Sceviour, Stars Best Barons 4-1 for Fourth Straight Win

Brett Ritchie had his first goal of the season tonight, the ultimate game winner. (Credit: Josh Rasmussen/Texas Stars)
Colton Sceviour continued his scoring ways from the weekend with two goals in tonight's contest against the Oklahoma City Barons and his former teammate and roommate, Richard Bachman. Bachman, who was drafted by Dallas and played parts of the first four years of his career in Texas, faced off against the Stars for the first time at Cedar Park Center tonight.

"It's cool to play against [former teammates]," said Sceviour, who now has seven goals on the season. "But you think in the back of your head that they know what you do. You shot on them so many times in practice. That's in the back of your head."

Sceviour and the Stars got the better of the matchup tonight, only the second of twelve games between the two clubs on the season. Brett Ritchie and Travis Morin added a goal and assist each for the Stars in the 4-1 win.

Jack Campbell was stellar in net, stopping 25 of 26 and carrying a shutout into the third period.

"Jack played really well for us," said Coach Desjardins. "It took us a little while to get going, but Jack kept us in it."

The win was Texas's fourth in a row and helps them maintain their hold on first place in the West.

Texas spent a lot of the period in its own zone in the first period. Despite that, they managed to come out of the frame with a 1-0 lead. OKC had two power plays in the period, contributing to setting the shots at 11-7 for the Barons.

"We spent a lot of time [in their zone], and they had a fair number of shots," said Sceviour. "We were happy where the shots came from, and there weren't a lot of second opportunities."

Colton Sceviour put in his 6th of the season on a relentless forechecking effort. Sceviour stole the puck off Barons defender David Musil and put it top-right corner on Bachman.

"I tried to beat [Musil] outside, and I didn't have anything," said Sceviour. "I took the middle and hoped he'd throw it blind. He did, and it ended up on my stick. By the time I got full control of the puck, I was low. He's smaller but he comes out and takes away angles. I knew if I had any chance I had to get it up quick.

Texas skated through a scoreless second period where they outshot OKC 17-9 in the frame. The tables turned a bit more in the home team's favor as more zone time was spent in the Barons' end. However, after forty, the score was still 1-0.

Brett Ritchie opened up his scoring account for the season with his first just 89 seconds into the third period. Coming down low on the left wing side, Ritchie backhanded the puck on net from a deep angle and managed to find Bachman's five hole for the 2-0 marker.

"Onbviously on the second goal, that's one you want back," said Bachman. "You have to make that save down 1-0 early in the third period.

Texas continued its scoring with Curtis McKenzie behind the net finding Colton Sceviour out front in the slot for the 3-0 score and Sceviour's second of the night.

From Sceviour's perspective, "That goal I just tried to throw on net quick and it worked."

From Bachman's, "The third goal juggled in the slot and I hesitated. I moved one inch too much, and he snuck it in five hole."

The Barons drew within two when William Wrenn could not find an outlet pass from behind his net and had to force a play that ended up on a Barons' stick. From there, Matt Ford potted his first of the year on an odd-angle wrister.

Late in the game with frustration mounting at the performance Campbell was putting on, Linus Omark iced the second-year tender and earned an unsportsmanlike conduct. Texas spent two of the final five minutes on the power play. Two of the remaining minutes were spent at 6-on-5 for the Barons with Bachman on the bench for the extra attacker.

Brett Ritchie specifically was playing aggressively on the 6-on-5 and was rewarded, chipping a puck off the left wing boards to Travis Morin, who scored his eighth of the year into an empty net to finish off the scoring.

Texas now heads to the road for games against Milwaukee and Rockford this weekend.

Tonight's lines:
McKenzie-Morin-Sceviour
Smith-Dowling-Ritchie
Petersen-Mueller-Stransky
Wathier-Peters-Montgomery

Oleksiak-Wrenn
Fortunus-Nemeth
Jokipakka-Gaunce

Campbell

Injuries, scratches, and notes:
Ranford, Hedden (scratch)

Coach Desjardins on Oleksiak: "I think he got better as the game went on. He stepped it up in the second half of the game."

Coach Desjardins on scratching Hedden and Ranford: "Both have played well for us, but I have to look at the other guys so I know where we're at and what we have. We made the moves to get a look."

Coach Desjardins on Smith's night: "I thought Smith was OK. He had one of his better games in the AHL, but I don't think he'd be super happy with his game. When you're a scorer, you have to generate all the time because that's part of your game. When you're a guy like Smith, you need to find the net."

Bachman on returning to the CPC: "It's natural habit to go to the right instead of straight and you have to think 'Which end of the ice am I going to?'. Overall, it was good to come back though."

Tonight's attendance was 4,488.

AHL Gamesheet - Texas v. Oklahoma City - October 23 2013

Comments

  1. With Garbutt suspended, Dallas has only 12 forwards. With Sceviour having scored 5 goals in the past 2 games, I expect to see him called up for Thursday's game in Dallas vs. Calgary.
    - PBG

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Need to assign someone to not go over the roster limit. Aaron Rome, perhaps.

      Delete
    2. With 8 D-men and a back-to-back road trip coming during the suspension, one of them is likely to have an injury in a game before they leave. Or they could send Benn or Connauton down for the trip. Dangerous to travel without an extra man -- same reason Texas called up Labrie.
      - PBG

      Delete
    3. I meant Morin -- I always get Morin and Sceviour mixed up.
      - PBG

      Delete
  2. Morin was scaring me a little tonight with 3 penalties taking him off the ice for 6 minutes but he came through and continued his point streak. Hey Steven, how many games is that now he kept his streak going? I am so glad the Stars are bringing it to the ice. Campbell was making some amazing saves and the crowd loved seeing him do it. I wish our guys the best of luck against the admirals this weekend

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He has a seven game point streak this season. He's scored or assisted in every game this season. He has a 14 game regular season point streak going back to April 6th last year. 12 goals, 16 assists and 28 points. Whoa.

      Delete
    2. Wow! That is awesome! I am going to have to watch the Stars play over the AHL Live network this weekend to see if he keeps it going. Thanks for the stats!

      Delete

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.