Stars’ Special Teams Shine Bright in 5-2 Victory Over Canucks in Game 3 of Western Conference Finals

 

(Credit: Andy Nietupski/Texas Stars)

For almost two weeks, the Texas Stars have been out on the road, living out of their suitcases in search of the second Calder Cup in franchise history.

The Stars did not disappoint in their return to the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park, giving their home fans a memorable Game 3, taking a dominant 5-2 victory Monday night over the Abbotsford Canucks to cut their series lead to 2-1.

“It's great to see our home fans. [We] feed off their energy. They bring it every night, and I'm sure as the week goes on, we'll see more and more of them here,” Michael Karow said. “They've been awesome all season and all playoffs. So we're just happy to be able to play some games in front of them.”

Putting up their second 35-plus shot effort this series, Texas’ special teams were the highlight of the night. One of the best units in the AHL during the regular season, Texas flexed its muscle with a pair of power-play and shorthanded goals.

Owning the second best penalty kill unit in the playoff, the Canucks allowed only a single power play goal heading into tonight, Texas got two of them in the first period alone.

The AHL regular season goal scoring leader, Matěj Blümel, picked up a pair of special-teams goals in the opening period to give the Stars a comfortable lead that they never let up.

“I love to score, it's been tough in playoffs, but kind of expected it and I got to live through it,” Blümel said. “I still believed that it’s going to go in, I'm happy it went in tonight and I'm really happy for the win.”

Kole Lind opened up scoring for the Stars on the power play, finding the back of the net after unexpectedly connecting with Justin Hryckowian’s drop pass in front of the net.

Remi Poirier stood tall in net for Texas with 22 saves, but Michael Karow noted that the team also gave him run support on the night. Following Lind’s opening goal, Blümel scored back-to-back on one-timers. First, he ripped a Cameron Hughes pass on the power play. Next, he scored off a dish from Arttu Hyry on the penalty kill. Suddenly, it was 3-1.

Abbotsford got one back, but then Antonio Stranges showed up. After missing nine weeks and nearly seeing his season end with an injury, Stranges picked up his second goal of the series. Stranges was the only Stars skater to score 5-on-5, punching in Jack Becker’s blocked shot and putting Texas up by two in the second period.

“To get dropped right into the division finals against Milwaukee is a big ask. To start getting better and playing even more to your identity in the Western Conference Final, credit to the athlete,” head coach Neil Graham said. “I think he's done a great job. When he's out there and he's hunting and he's skating the way 

he can, he's excellent on both sides.”

(Credit: Ross Bonander/Texas Stars) 

Capping off the Stars scoring onslaught against the Canucks, Karow captured the Stars second shorthanded goal of the night. Connecting with an Arttu Hyry pass, the defenseman fired a shot while off-balanced, finding the back of the net for some extra insurance.

“Sometimes you get lucky — fortunately, I made a good play there,” Karow said. “I was able to dodge a hit and pull one in to give us a little bit of a cushion there. So I was pretty happy with that.”

Texas also received a major morale and nastiness boost from Alex Petrovic, who spent almost two months in the NHL with Dallas in the Stanley Cup playoffs. The veteran defenseman proved to be a major asset in shutting down the Canucks offensively.

Texas will return to the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park for Game 4, seeking a 2-2 tie in the series. Puck drop against Abbotsford is set for Wednesday at 7 PM.

Tonight’s lines
McKenzie-Hryckowian-Lind
Hughes-Hyry-Blümel
Pettersen-Becker-Stranges
Wheatcroft-Scott-Romano

Capobianco-Krys
Taylor-Karow
Looft-Petrovic

Poirier

Injuries, scratches and notes
Bergsland, White, Wheatcroft, Thomson, Chisholm, Terness, Ertel, Bertucci, Arcuri, Kyrou, Martino, Punnett, Shlaine, Hemming (scratch)
McDonald (out for season)

Tonight’s attendance was 6,325

AHL Gamesheet - Texas vs Abbotsford - June 2 2025