Poirier, early goals cruise Texas past Manitoba, extends win streak to six

 

(Andy Nietupski / Texas Stars)

If there is one thing about this season, it's that the Texas Stars organization should not have any buyer's remorse about goaltender Remi Poirier’s two-year contract he signed at the start of the season.

 
While Texas was able to hold onto an early two-goal lead, built in the game's first period. It was the play of the Stars' defense and their netminder to maintain the narrow lead over division rival, the Manitoba Moose.

The Stars held off a late-game push in the final two minutes of the game by the Moose to extend their win streak to six, in a 2-1 victory Friday night at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park.

“The guys are gelling,” head coach Toby Petersen said. “The individual lines and the D pairings are really finding a rhythm and finding a groove. So it's just great to see, and obviously the goaltending.”

Poirier and the Texas defense lines held firm for the majority of the night by getting sticks in shooting lanes and by simply being an abrasive force. The Moose were struggling to generate anything on offense, taking them until the end of the game to find the back of the net for the first time.

“As a defenseman, anytime you make a mistake, or something passes through. [But] when you got that guy like that back there, it's really nice. It feels good,” Trey Taylor said. “He's stud… we're super lucky to have him.”

Poirier made his second straight start and third consecutive appearance, continuing to build on his impressive season as the Stars' primary nightly starter.

Manitoba pulled goaltender Domenic DiVincentiss late in the final period for the extra attacker and one last offensive push against Texas. Although Poirier allowed a goal to put the Moose back in the game, he made up for it down the stretch.

The third-year Texas netminder came up big when he was needed the most. Poirier spread across his crease from one post to the other and made two major saves on back-to-back shots. The saves preserved the Stars' one-goal lead and the possibility of an overtime period.

“This guy's crazy, Taylor said about Poirier’s late saves.“It's awesome to see anytime when your teammates succeed and do well and get the crowd fired up.”

Texas and Manitoba struggled to find good looks on either end of the ice to open the night. The first shot on the net that was recorded came four minutes into the period, but despite the lack of proper looks, the Stars made their limited chances count.

Taylor extended his point streak to eight on the first shot of the game, punching in Jack Becker’s deflection off DiVincentiis' left pad. Texas didn’t wait too long to get on the board once again, just 36 seconds later and on their second shot of the night, the Stars tattooed another goal.

Antonio Stranges collected the puck off a pass from Kole Lind behind DiVincentiis’ net. Stranges quickly found the back of the net to give the Stars an early 2-0 lead that they maintained until the end of the night.

“That was a big part for us tonight, was trying to get the lead and play ahead and not have to play desperate hockey once we get behind,” Petersen said. “It was good for our guys to get rewarded for some solid execution.”

Texas will finish up its two-game home stand against Manitoba tomorrow at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park at 7 p.m. CT.

Tonight's lines

Hughes-Shlaine-Seminoff 

Stranges-Scott-Lind 

Hanas-Becker-McDonald 

Ertel-Chisholm-McKenzie 

Taylor-Krys 

Looft-Kolyachonok 

Bertucci-Karow 

Poirier

Injuries, scratches and notes
Bergsland, Martino, Wheatcroft, J. Poirier (scratch) 

Hyry, Tuomaala (injury) 

Tonight's attendance was 6,202 

AHL Gamesheet - Texas v. Manitoba - February 6 2026