Texas Stars Battle Back to Win 6-4 in Tucson

(Credit: Kate Dibildox/Tucson Roadrunners)

[Ed. Note: This is the debut posting by Autumn Limas, who previously covered the San Antonio Rampage as a team employee over a decade ago. We're so happy to have her hockey expertise on staff.]

The Texas Stars hit the road for the first time in the 24-25 season and opened the road campaign with a 6-4 win against the Tucson Roadrunners Saturday night at the Tucson Convention Center. The Stars got goals from five different players to come back after being down 3-1 in the second period, while Antonio Stranges picked up two primary assists after drawing into the lineup for the first time this season.

At first, it looked as if the Stars were going to be in for a long night against an extremely physical Tucson team. Though Texas held the puck for the majority of the night, and won the shot battle 36-29, the Roadrunners capitalized by going hard to the net on almost every attempt with two of their goals coming off rebounds right in front of Stars' goaltender Magnus Hellberg, and the other getting through thanks to an excellent screen. Meanwhile, the Stars peppered Matthew Villalta mostly from outside the high-danger areas of the ice or after one-and-done entries into the offensive zone.

After a mostly quiet first period, aside from some early scrums, the Roadrunners fourth line crashed the net with Cameron Hebig cashing in off a rebound to put Tucson on the board. It only took 20 seconds for the Stars to respond, though, as Kyle Capobianco hit a trailing Kole Lind on the rush for his second goal of the season. But it was the Roadrunners who got the last word in the first as Maveric Lamoureux fired in his first professional goal past a screened Hellberg to put Tucson back on top 2-1 with five seconds left in the first period. 

Andrew Agozzino added to the Roadrunners lead at 8:38 in the second to make it 3-1. After benefiting from their physical play all night, it began to backfire for the Roadrunners in a big way opening the door for the Stars to tie things up 3-3 to close out the middle frame. 

Former Star Kevin Connauton turned up the heat of the game when he got tangled behind the net with Emilio Pettersen and earned a minor for crosschecking. Not satisfied with that, he offered an ill-advised spear into Pettersen’s gut after the whistle and earned an early trip to the locker room. All totaled, the Stars were given seven minutes of power play time to work with thanks to the five minute major for spearing on top of the initial two minutes for crosschecking. Connauton will likely miss Sunday’s rematch after a game misconduct.

The Stars needed the bulk of that time to jump back into the game as Chase Wheatcroft scored his second of the season to make it 3-2 after the five minutes for the major penalty expired. Justin Hryckowian evened the game at 3-3 when he artfully finished his shot from the slot courtesy of an excellent effort from Stranges on the forecheck where he picked Villard’s pocket on a clearing attempt behind the net. 

Tucson went back to the grinding game and were promptly rewarded when Hunter Drew scored off another rebound off Hellberg to make it 4-3. The Roadrunners fourth line again found fortune after making the effort to crash the net. It was all Tucson would get for the rest of the night, though, as the Stars scored three unanswered goals starting with a Michael Karow point shot to spark the comeback. 

Texas finally got the break they needed while on the penalty kill in the closing minutes of the third period when Pettersen, who stayed in the game after the spear from Connauton, managed to catch Villalta napping on a breakout attempt. Pettersen stole the puck from under him and tidily tucked it in the empty Tucson net to make it 5-4 at 18:46 of the third period. 

Hryckowian would score his second tally of the evening after the Roadrunners pulled Villalta for an extra attacker in the dying seconds of regulation to seal the 6-4 victory and capping an extraordinary effort on the road after being pushed around a lot of the night. 

The Stars will look to complete the weekend sweep tomorrow night at 6PM CST. 

Tonight's lines

Petterson-Hughes-Lind

McDonald-Stranges-Hryckowian

McKenzie-Hyry-Wheatcroft

Becker-Seminoff-Romano

Bischel-Krys

Kyrou-Looft 

Karow-Capobianco

Hellberg

Injuries, scratches and notes
Petrovic, Blumel (callup)
White, Arcuri (scratch)

Tonight's attendance was 5,017.

AHL Gamesheet - Texas at Tucson - October 19 2024