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| (Credit: Milwaukee Admirals) |
A 10 AM puck drop in front of more than nine thousand screaming school kids may be one of the more offbeat traditions of the American Hockey League schedule, but the pure energy in the building made the mid-morning match into one of the more chaotic outings of the season for the Texas Stars so far.
With 9,091 raucous kids in his ear all day, Remi Poirier backstopped the Texas Stars to a 4-3 shootout victory over the Milwaukee Admirals Wednesday morning during the School Day Game at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.
Poirier, making his second consecutive start after his shutout of the Chicago Wolves on Sunday, made 28 saves on 31 shots and went a perfect 3-for-3 in the shootout to secure the extra point for the Stars. Chase Wheatcroft, Matěj Blümel, and Justin Hryckowian scored in regulation for Texas, while Cameron Hughes scored the lone goal in the shootout to open the three-game Midwest swing with a win.
It was another strong performance from the Stars’ core of young players backed up from some timely heroics from their veteran backup goaltender, and was another example in the balance in contributions that has become a signature of the team this season.
“It talks to the balance of our team, our lines, and our depth. I think we’ve done a good job all year of having different contributors,” Stars head coach Neil Graham said this past weekend before departing for the road trip. “Some are first-year pros, some have been in the league for a long time…but everyone has bought into being a Texas Star, guys have bought into winning games the correct way.”
Wheatcroft got the morning’s festivities started 1:40 into the game when he backhanded the puck in over a sprawled out Matt Murray. He found the puck after a off angle shot attempt from Antonio Stranges from behind the net squirted past Murray and through the crease to the stick of the second year pro. The goal was his eighth of the season and his second point in as many games.
But, just 40 seconds later, Milwaukee executed a picture perfect breakout to tie the game at one. The play started in the Admirals end when Milwaukee captain Kevin Gravel fired the puck up the right wing wall to a waiting Anders Bjork in the neutral zone, who quickly relayed it to a streaking Ondrej Pavel at center ice. The quick puck movement put Pavel on a 1-on-1 with an on his heels Alex Petrovic, who couldn’t stop Pavel from launching a crisp backhand past Poirier.
The Admirals made the most of the early-game blitz of action, ensuring the game remained tied in a first period that the Stars controlled and it allowed them to push back in the second, as they forced several key saves out of Poirier.
Blümel, though, snatched the momentum away from the Admirals as the reigning AHL Player of the Week put the Stars back up 2-1 after his second shorthanded goal of the year. Arttu Hyry’s excellent forechecking pressure forced a giveaway from Murray that gave Hyry possession of the puck behind the net where he had no problem finding an onrushing Blümel to score his team-leading 27th goal of the season. The goal was Blümel’s 10th point in his last five games and secured sole possession of second place in AHL scoring.
Hryckowian jumped in on the action and continued his excellent rookie season when he made it 3-1 at 17:50 of the second period. After serving two minutes for an interference penalty, the red hot rookie was able to connect with Kyle Capobianco’s crisp cross-ice pass to tuck in his 16th goal of the season neatly past the far post. The goal was Hryckowian’s third in his last three games.
The Admirals would battle back in the third period, though, as Ryder Rolston goal midway through the third set up a dramatic game-tying marker from Cal O’Reilly with the Milwaukee goalie pulled.
Poirier went on to shut the door, making three big saves in overtime and three more in the shootout to pick up the win.
The Stars will now head to Illinois where they’ll face the IceHogs on Saturday night before closing out the Midwest trip with a Sunday match against the Chicago Wolves.
Today's lines
Blümel-Hryckowian-McKenzie
Stranges-Hughes-Wheatcroft
Pettersen-Hyry-Lind
Seminoff-Becker-Ertel
Capobianco-Krys
Looft-Petrovic
Karow-White
Poirier
Injuries, scratches, and notes
Kyrou, Romano, McDonald (scratch)
Tonight's attendance was 9,091.
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