For the Texas Stars, all roads lead through the Cream City.
Adding another brick to the wall in one of the stiffest rivalries in the AHL, the Milwaukee Admirals picked up former Stars netminder Matt Murray in the offseason.
Murray, seems to always put on a show against his former club back in his former home. In the regular season, the former Star goaltender dominated, holding a 4-1 record against his former team, with his only loss coming in shootout fashion.
It takes a lot to put the puck behind Murray, especially for Texas. It took everything the Stars had, compiling their best performance against Murray in regulation, taking a 4-2 victory over the Admirals Friday night.
“We know he's an excellent goalie. We know him well,” head coach Neil Graham said. “He's played a lot of games in this building, so he's comfortable in this environment. But when we put some pucks into some tough areas, you just got to stay in the fight and try and win your next moment.”
The Admirals controlled the majority of the opening period, and despite owning the playoffs’ best power play unit, the Stars were unable to capitalize on a very long power play with Milwaukee giving Texas almost two minutes on the 5-on-3 late in the first.
In need of a momentum shift, the reigning AHL Rookie of the Year, Justin Hyrckowian, proved that spark for the Stars, connecting with Matěj Blümel, tossing the puck back to Hryckowian. Picking up his own rebound, the young forward found the back of the net off the skate of Murray to retake the lead in the waning seconds of the opening period.
Milwaukee opened the second with its fourth penalty of the night, giving the Stars another opportunity to further their lead. After the power play tally eluded Texas in the first, Hryckowian picked up his second goal of the night on the advantage, connecting with a shallow pass from Kole Lind in the crease to go up by two.
“Obviously, we expect to score every time we hop out on the power play, but it's not really how it works all the time,” Justin Hryckowian said. “I thought we were generating a lot of good chances, couple posts, and a couple of big saves from their goalie, we’re happy with our looks and it's good to get one.”
Picking up a pair of helpers, the Stars' single-season scoring leader Matěj Blümel got in on the action, connecting with a Luke Krys pass along the boards. Firing a quick shot in the low slot, Blümel beat Murray, capping off Texas’ scoring at four.
After his performance in the double overtime game, Magnus Hellberg earned his first start in the net, making his Stars playoff debut. Hellberg stopped 23 of 25 shots on goal, allowing the Admirals two quick snipes in the first and third.
The Stars' fourth line opened up scoring early, flooding the crease on a Harrison Scott bounce shot. In the crowded net, Matthew Seminoff found the back of the net to go up by one. The goal was reviewed for possible goaltender interference and was later clarified as good.
“We've been really stressing having good starts coming out of the gates,” Hryckowian said. “I thought we did exactly that on our first couple of shifts. I thought the Scott-Seminoff line was good for us and kind of got us going.”
Texas will play the Milwaukee Admirals in Game 2 on Sunday at 7 p.m. at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park.
Tonight's lines
Injures, scratches and notes
Bertucci, White, Arcuri, Kyrou, Martino, Punnett, McDonald, Wheatcroft, Shlaine, Hemming, Stranges (scratch)
Chisholm (warmup)
Tonight's attendance was 5, 568
AHL Gamesheet - Texas v. Milwaukee - May 15 2025
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