Justin Hryckowian Scores Twice, Arttu Hyry Scores Game-Winner in Overtime to Beat Grand Rapids 3-2 the Night Before Christmas Break

(Credit: Nicolas Carrillo/Grand Rapids Griffins)

With the holiday break on the horizon, the Texas Stars had so far done everything they could to stay off the naughty list during their Midwest road trip. In their final game before heading home for Christmas, the Stars came from behind to win 3-2 in overtime against the Central Division-leading Grand Rapids Griffins Sunday afternoon at Van Andel Arena.

Arttu Hyry scored the game-winning power play goal at 1:28 of overtime, extending his league-leading active scoring streak to eight games. Meanwhile, Justin Hryckowian scored twice, including the game-tying goal at 18:36 of the third period. Hryckowian, who recently returned from his second call up with the Dallas Stars, brought his point total to 26 (12 goals, 14 assists) on the season, leading all AHL rookies and tying for 10th in overall league scoring.

Magnus Hellberg started his second consecutive game and made 27 saves off 29 shots on his way to his 12th victory of the season.

The first half of the game had the feeling of the last day of school before break, plenty of action, but no real outcomes. Though the Stars controlled play for most of the first period, not very many prime scoring chances emerged while the Griffins were able to capitalize on the first few attempts.      

Grand Rapids opened the scoring at 3:27 of the first period when Dominik Shine completed a 3-on-1 rush that formed off of a puck deflection on the other end. Elmer Söderblom added to the Griffins lead at 8:28 of the first period, once again catching the Stars flat footed in transition to make it 2-0 heading into the second period.

Things remained quiet through most of the second period until the Stars’ top players once again got things going with a superb sequence. After Kole Lind entered the Griffins’ zone on the right wing side he slipped the puck to Antonio Stranges making a net rush in the center. With Cossa focused on Stranges, he sent a slick backhand feed to Hryckowian who fired it into an open net to make it 2-1.

The Stars carried that momentum into the third period, forcing Cossa to make several tough saves. Late into the third period, it was looking like he was going to be successful in closing the door, then, Hryckowian dropped in again like Santa Claus down the chimney.

With 84 seconds left in regulation, and Hellberg not yet on the bench for the extra attacker, the Stars pinned the Griffins in their own end where Matěj Blümel found a waiting Hryckowian on the far post for a tap-in to tie the game at two.

The last-second chaos also resulted in the Stars drawing a double minor penalty that, crucially, extended into the eventual overtime. 1:28 into the extra frame Lind found a shooting lane in the slot and fired hard enough that Cossa lost track of the puck in the shuffle, but Hyry had not, and found the puck tantalizingly sitting in the blue paint for an easy tap in to send the Stars into the holiday break with a win.

The Stars will return from break on December 29th when they make a trip to Manitoba to face the Moose at 2 PM CT.

Tonight’s Lines
Hughes-Hyry-Blümel
Stranges-Hryckowian-Lind
McDonald-Pettersen-Wheatcroft
Seminoff-Becker-Romano

Capobianco-Krys
Petrovic-Kyrou
Karow-Looft 

Hellberg

Injuries, scratches and notes
Bichsel (callup)
McKenzie (international duty, Spengler Cup)
White, Ertel (scratch)

Tonight’s attendance was 8,484.

AHL Gamesheet - Texas at Grand Rapids - December 22 2024