Rookie goaltender Arno Tiefensee made 41 saves, in what was his third straight start, while former Griffin Cross Hanas scored a goal and an assist in one of the Stars' more heroic efforts of the season.
“They are forcing other teams to play their best game,” Stars head coach Toby Petersen told Stars play-by-play announcer John Peterson in the pre-game interview. “It’s a great challenge for us, we’ve been playing some great hockey and improving in a lot of areas…but we’re not coming here for moral victories.”
It was clear from puck drop how the Griffins (29-1-1) have been so dominant this season as they controlled play and constantly dogged the Stars on the forecheck and neutral zones in the rare moments where they didn’t control the puck.
Despite dominating possession, it was the Stars who struck first when Hanas tipped a point shot from Connor Punnett at 7:58 of the first period. The assist was Punnett’s first American Hockey League point, and it put the Stars ahead at a point in the game where the Griffins had been peppering Tiefensee to the tune of 17 shots to the Stars’ five.
The Griffins would answer, though, after some extended zone time allowed Austin Watson to capitalize on a rebound that found him open in the slot to make it 1-1. They would extend the lead early in the third period when Ondrej Becher managed to fool Tiefensee into hugging his right post a little too long by holding onto the puck a second longer behind the net before tucking into the open side to make it 2-1.
Hanas still had more to say against his former team when he set up the game tying goal for Kole Lind at 4:32 of the third period off of a brilliantly executed play in the Griffins zone. Lind started the play when he cut off a clearing attempt off the boards and did a quick give and go with Hanas who darted to the top of the slot. With Griffins goaltender Sebastian Cossa thinking a shot was coming, Hanas sent a smooth backhand pass back to Lind who had repositioned to the far post and an open goal to make it 2-2.
Becher would have the last word in the match when he scored the eventual game-winner at 14:04. The Stars had several solid chances to tie the game late with Tiefensee pulled, but Cossa would shut the door for Grand Rapids.
“They’re a super strong team this year, they play really fast,” Hanas told Peterson postgame. “They play connected, and it’s definitely tough to weather. We found our game in the third there, but it was a little too late. If we run through periods like we did in the third period, I think we have a good chance of beating that team.”
They’ll get another shot at the Griffins Friday evening where they’ll look to even the score.
Tonight’s Lines
Hughes-Scott-Seminoff
Stranges-Shlaine-Lind
Hanas-Becker-McDonald
Ertel-Chisholm-McKenzie
Taylor-Bergsland
Karow-Krys
Punnett-Looft
Tiefensee
Injuries, scratches and notes
Chisholm, Bertucci, Wheatcroft, Martino (scratch)
Tuomaala, Hyry, White (injury)
Tonight’s attendance was 6,867.
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