Fancy Overtime Stickwork from Cameron Hughes Leads Stars to 3-2 Victory

(Credit: Logan Foust/Texas Stars)

Sometimes, the third time's the charm.

Overcoming their two-game losing streak to Rockford, the Texas Stars topped their division rival in a 3-2 overtime victory Saturday night at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park.

“I think we were playing the game the right way and for 60 minutes today,” Texas Stars head coach Neil Graham said. “We had a better belief system, because we know we were putting in the work.”

Texas was cruising in the final period, holding the IceHogs to just three shots on goal for a majority of the period. Down by one goal with less than two minutes to play in regulation, Rockford pulled goalie Mitchell Weeks, leaving the net wide open.

With time running out, Rockford forward Cole Guttman on a deep slapshot found the back of the net sliding right under the legs of Magnus Hellberg to tie the game up 2-2 with just 29 seconds left in regulation.

“Despite the tying goal late, I didn't notice panic,” Graham said about keeping composure. “There’s frustration in the short term, but we collected ourselves quick.”

Playing three-on-three, Texas applied an aggressive style forecheck creating massive pressure for the IceHogs skaters. Two minutes into the extra period, Majěj Blümel lost his stick but still kept possession of the puck with the blades of his skates.

Screaming down the left side of Blümel, Kyle Looft received the pass, but his backhand shot sailed too much to the right of the net. Rebounding his missed shot, Looft was pinned to the boards by Rockford's Kevin Korchinski.

Sliding from behind, Cameron Hughes took possession of the puck skating back to ample range for a close wrist shot. After missing wide, Hughes was able to get a redo on his shot. From the blue line, Blümel passed the puck up the guts to Hughes.

Meeting Weeks face-to-face right in front of his crease, Hughes with very fancy stick work shot between the back of his legs on an impressive backhanded goal to end the Stars two game losing streak in the overtime period.

“He was trying to challenge himself and frankly, he played hard all night,” Graham said about Hughes. “He was competitive and next thing you know, you get a nice finisher like that.”

Celebrating his 700th professional hockey game, captain Curtis McKenzie was able to knock one on the board to give Texas the lead, quickly responding to Rockford’s goal which tied the game up. Fellow 700-game veteran Alex Petrovic had the assist.

“Everyone really felt like they put their best foot forward,” McKenzie said. “It meant a lot; it's great to have such good teammates. We have so much fun coming to the room with this group.”

Jack Becker also netted his second of the year to open the scoring in the first before the later game led to Hughes' heroics.  Anthony Romano and Luke Krys assisted.

The Stars kick off their longest away stretch of the season for their two week long west coast road trip this Friday when they face the Ontario Reign at Toyota Arena in Ontario, California.

Tonight’s lines
Stranges - Hryckowian - Lind
McKenzie - Hyry - Blümel
Pettersen - Hughes - Wheatcroft
Romano - Seminoff - Becker

Looft - Petrovic
Capobianco - Bichsel
Karow - Krys

Hellberg

Injuries, scratches and notes
White (warm-up)
Arcuri, Kyrou (scratch)

Tonight’s attendance was 6,183.

AHL Gamesheet - Texas v. Rockford - November 23 2024