(Credit: Texas Stars)
Anxiety filled the air heading into the final period on Saturday night.
As the Texas Stars and Rockford Icehogs departed for the final intermission of the night, up in Des Moines, Iowa, the Manitoba Moose secured a dominant 6-1 victory over the Iowa Wild, and two points in the race for the No. 3 seed in the Calder Cup playoffs.
All Texas needed to do in the final 20 minutes of the night was to hold onto its one-goal lead to sew up the No. 3 seed and avoid a trip to the Comerica Center in Frisco.
The Stars held on and added four goals to secure a date with the other Illinois AHL franchise later in the month, beating the IceHogs in the regular season finale, 5-1, at the HEB Center in Cedar Park.
“They weathered the storm there early, and then we had that won't be denied attitude,” head coach Toby Petersen said. “You can just see it kind of building and building and building.”
Rockford and Texas were deadlocked at one apiece for the majority of the second period, with both defenses and netminders shutting down any offensive rush. It took late in the middle frame for Texas to break the ceasefire, when Harrison Scott found the back of the net with a powerful wrister at the right face-off circle.
With the 2-1 lead heading into the final frame, the Stars took control of the night with an impressive offensive showing in the third, tattooing three goals past Stanislav Berezhnoy to cap off a dominant final weekend of the regular season.
“I think it's just getting that first one, getting us going. And then after that, the momentum was carrying,” Scott said. “[Justin Hryckowian] got that next one, and kind of closed out the game. Kind of instill that doubt into our opponent — We care of our job.”
Hryckowian netted the third goal of his professional career, cashing in on the left side of Berezhnoy, after blocking Jack Becker’s initial shot in the zone, adding insurance to the Stars' lead.
With the game firmly in control, defenseman Luke Krys and Tristian Bertucci made Texas victory undeniable with two snipes in the middle of the ice for the Stars' fourth and fifth goals.
Despite the pressure of playoff implications riding into tonight, Texas rolled out all five of its college signees against Rockford, and they did not lack any experience on the ice. Defenseman Aram Minnetian and Jack Andersen maintained the tone set by the older guys on the blueline to hold Rockford to just one goal tonight.
“We want internal competition, and they're definitely providing that. They played great for coming out of college and not having any pro experience,” Petersen said. “They're doing the right things. They're playing the right way. That leads to internal competition, which is only going to make us stronger.”
Antonio Stranges gave Texas the first lead of the night, firing a rocket slap shot near the end of the Stars' four-minute power play. Rockford forward Samuel Savoie answered later in the period, beating Remi Poirier on his blocker side to tie the game up at one.
Now in possession of the No. 3 seed in the Calder Cup Playoffs, the Central Division slate is set. The Stars will avoid the first-round matchup with the Milwaukee Admirals, earning 10 days of rest and a trip to the division semifinals with Chicago, a team Texas has found a lot of success against in the regular season.
In their eight games against Chicago, all coming during their midseason surge, the Stars hold a 7-1 record over the Wolves heading into their playoff series.
“If we were in the playoff play-in game, it's still great experience for guys, they’re still playoff games, and we would have just dealt with it and as best we could,” Petersen said. “Now with the break, we're excited to get our game just totally in line and rested up with some healthy bodies out there and go to work.”
Texas will open up the Central Division Semifinal against Chicago on April 28 at the HEB Center in Cedar Park.
Tonight's Lines
Hughes-Shlaine-SeminoffStranges-Becker-Hryckowian
Fitzgerald-Scott-Hanas
Chisholm-Rickwood-McKenzie
Taylor-Krys
Karow-Minnetian
Bertucci-Anderson
Poirier
Injuries, scratches, and notes
Martino (warm-up)
J. Poirier, Ertel, Lind, Kolyachonok, McDonald (scratch)
Looft, Kolyachonok, Wheatcroft (injured)
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