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If the Texas Stars were going to sort out their troubles playing on the road, their six-game west coast swing was going to put them to the test. They got to work early against the Ontario Reign, scoring just 41 seconds into the game and turned in their best road performance of the season on their way to a 5-3 win Tuesday night at Toyota Arena.
Arttu Hyry scored two goals and an assist while Justin Hryckowian, only 24 hours removed from his first NHL call up, turned in two assists including the primary helper on the game-winner. Magnus Hellberg made 30 saves on the night, 17 of which came in third period onslaught by the Reign to secure the victory.
Tuesday night’s performance was an excellent showing for Hryckowian, who was loaned back to the Stars by Dallas after dressing and skating in warmups with the big club Monday evening in Utah. The rookie did not miss a beat against the Reign, dominating with the first line and showing exactly why he was deserving of the callup.
Hyry, Saturday night’s shootout hero was right on time for the Stars when he opened the scoring just 41 seconds into the game. Hyry was the beneficiary of a solid net drive where he was able to find a rebound off a point shot that he was able to spin and fire past Reign goaltender Pheonix Copley.
The fast start was an encouraging sign for the Stars, who entered Tuesday’s game 4-5-0 on the road, and had struggled to show up on time when away from the H-E-B Center. But the promising start was quickly answered by the Reign, who took advantage of some familiar mistakes from Texas.
The Stars surrendered the first power play of the night shortly after the opening goal and the Reign’s Samuel Fagemo, who scored twice in Ontario’s win over the Stars last Friday, did not waste any time tying the game at 1-1.
Ontario took control after tying the game, but the Stars managed to regain their footing before an untimely mistake put them on the back foot again. Kyle Capobianco lost a puck battle behind the net to Taylor Ward who stole the puck and quickly found Francesco Pinelli who fired a one-timer past Hellberg to make it 2-1.
It looked like it was going to be another long night on the road for the Stars, but the second period showed that they have started to find their rhythm.
Hryckowian and Alex Petrovic, both freshly returned from their callups with Dallas, combined to tie the game at two midway through the second period. The Stars had come out firing during the second, peppering the Ontario net during two power plays. The extended zone time created an opportunity off an excellent passing play where Hryckowian found a trailing Petrovic to hammer in the tying goal.
A tipped shot from Angus Booth briefly returned the lead to the Reign at 10:41 of second, but Hyry’s second goal of the game tied it at 3-3 just five minutes later.
The Stars first line put Texas ahead for good at 5:55 of the third period after an excellent offensive sequence from the first line. Kole Lind started a give and go with Hryckowian along the wall who carried it down behind the net where he sent a perfect tape-to-tape pass to Antonio Stranges up front for the game-winner.
Matěj Blümel would add the empty netter to close to make it 5-3 and close out what was the Stars best road showing of the season. The win brings their record to 2-1-0 on the six-game west coast swing as they return to the Coachella Valley Thursday night for a rematch with the Firebirds at 8 PM.
Tonight’s Lines
Stranges-Hryckowian-Lind
Hughes-Hyry-Blümel
Pettersen-Seminoff-McKenzie
Wheatcroft-Becker-McDonald
Bischel-Petrovic
Capobianco-Looft
Karow-Krys
Hellberg
Injuries, scratches and notes
White, Kyrou, Arcuri (scratch)
Tonight’s attendance was 5,521.
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