Cameron Hughes' Hat Trick and Magnus Hellberg's Heroics Power the Texas Stars to a 5-2 Win Over Milwaukee

(Credit: Brianna Nevins / Milwaukee Admirals) 

It may only be ten days into the new year, but games against divisional opponents can always be revealing when it comes to the makeup of your team. The Texas Stars came into Milwaukee after a dominant 4-1 win against the Rockford IceHogs Wednesday night. The Admirals, who are right on Texas’ heels in the Central Division, made sure that nothing was going to come easy Friday night.

Cameron Hughes and Magnus Hellberg shared the spotlight as the Stars defeated the Milwaukee Admirals 5-2 Friday night at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.

Hughes scored the Stars’ second hat trick of the season while Hellberg made a courageous 34-save effort on the way to his 16th win of the season. Hellberg also recorded his first assist of the season in the win. 

It was a statement win for the Stars, who won their sixth-straight road game and pulled within two points of the Grand Rapids Griffins for the Central Division lead.

Jack Becker got the party started for the Stars at 10:53 of the first period, when he forced a turnover in front of the Admirals net and beat Milwaukee goaltender Matt Murray to make it 1-0. The Stars showed up on time in Milwaukee and controlled play for most of the first period and were rewarded for it with the early lead.

The Admirals, though, would not go quietly and fired back in the second period. Milwaukee took a stranglehold of the match in the second and laid siege to the Stars’ end of the ice, forcing multiple saves from Hellberg. Milwaukee fired 20 shots on net and tied the game on one when Ozzy Weisblatt scored at 7:49 when the Admirals forced a Stars turnover after a long shift.

Hellberg was nearly the story of the night after the hectic second period until Hughes decided the Stars would not lose this evening.

The veteran forward tied the game for Texas at 15:34 of the middle frame against the run of play when he found himself in the perfect spot in front of the net to pot the rebound off of a Michael Karow point shot.

Hughes struck again early in the third while on the power play after he finished off a superb passing sequence from the Stars to make it 3-1. Kole Lind added his eight goal of the season at 13:07 of the third to put the game out of reach for the Admirals, who scored a goal with the net empty to make it 4-2 before Hughes completed his hat trick in the final minutes. It was former Stars Scott Reedy's first of the season.

The Stars will head back to Rockford for a rematch with the IceHogs Saturday night before heading back to the H-E-B Center next week.

Tonight's lines
Stranges-Hryckowian-Pettersen
Blümel-Hughes-Lind
Wheatcroft-Seminoff-McKenzie
Ertel-Becker-Romano

Bischel-White
Capobianco-Krys
Karow-Looft

Hellberg

Scratches, injuries and notes
Hyry (callup)
Petrovic (upper body injury), McDonald (upper body injury)
Looft, Romano (scratch)

Tonight’s attendance was 6,830.

AHL Gamesheet - Texas at Milwaukee - January 10 2025