 |
| (Credit: Milwaukee Admirals) |
Texas suffered its first loss of the postseason in a penalty-marred affair in Milwaukee with a final score of 5-3 keeping the Admirals alive in the best-of-five series. The Stars were tied early, but the Ads earned a pair of goals to go ahead in the first and collect a lead they would never relinquish.
Along the way, things got weird, frankly. The Stars had to kill multiple 5-on-3s, including a 5-on-3 that extended over two minors with three players in the box. Those penalties also included three separate delay of game calls for sending the puck over the glass, a rare call over the course of the season but certainly not one you see three times in half a game.
Milwaukee was far from innocent on the penalty ledger. Most notably, the Stars lost Luke Krys to injury in the first period after Reid Schaefer skated in full speed from center ice and charged the rookie defender at the end boards. Schaefer was ejected from the game, and Texas got a major power play, where they would score to bring the game within one. Texas shifted back to the 11/7 lineup, which made the loss of Krys less stressful on the D corps' minutes.
The Ads would score first in the opening frame with a screened shot through traffic by Marc Del Gaizo. A power play marker from Justin Hryckowian evened things up as he beat Troy Grosenick, who started the game in place of Yaroslav Askarov, through the five hole.
From there, things got weird, as previously mentioned. With Gavin Bayreuther and Lian Bichsel in the box, Texas took another delay of game and extended the 5-on-3 further. Phil Tomasino scored on the backdoor with ten seconds left in the two-man advantage and Zach L'Heureux pushed the lead further to 3-1 with a goal in the paint on the 5-on-4.
The Stars got one back on the power play after the charging call and ejection of Schaefer. Kyle McDonald collected a rebound for an unassisted tally.
By the end of the first, the combined penalty minutes were already at 33.
The second period was all Ads on the scoresheet. Texas allowed a shorthanded marker on their lone power play of the frame, making it 4-2. Del Gaizo got his second of the night at even strength with just over four minutes left in the second. That would end Remi Poirier's night with 14 saves on 19 shots.
Texas came hard in the final frame. Just eight seconds in, Oskar Bäck scored to mark the fastest playoff goal to start a period in team history. Lian Bichsel pinged one off the post on the ensuing shift then Christian Kyrou put one on net that generated a major scrum
The Stars continued the pressure, pulling Kraws with 3:57 left in the game and sending out the top line with Bäck and Bayreuther.
It was not to be; the comeback effort only amounted to Bäck's period-opening goal. These two teams rematch on Friday with Texas again having a chance to end the Ads' season with a win.
Tonight's lines:
Pettersen-Bourque-McKenzie
Blümel-Bäck-Karlström
Caamano-Hryckowian-McDonald
Berard-Seminoff
Bichsel-Petrovic
Bayreuther-Krys
Karow-Kyrou
Looft
Poirier
Injuries, scratches and notes
Stankoven, Pouliot, Murray (callup)
Gardiner, Bertucci, MacDonnell, White, Wheatcroft, Romano, Stranges, Becker (scratch)
Reedy (out for the season - upper body)
Haiskanen (out for the season)
Tonight's attendance was 4,651.
Comments
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.