Hulak’s Hat Trick Sparks Stars Offense in 8-2 Win
Nov 8, 2014
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Derek Hulak’s first career hat-trick sparked the Texas Stars offense in an 8-2 road win over the Charlotte Checkers on Saturday night at Time Warner Cable Arena in front of 7,656 fans.
Hulak scored the opening goal of the contest at 6:22 of the first period as part of a five-goal barrage by the Stars in the opening frame. The second-year forward added two more in the second. He and defenseman John Klingberg (one goal, two assists) each finished with three-point games to lead all skaters.
The Stars (6-2-2-0) and Checkers (3-7-0-0) hook up again on Monday night at 5 p.m. CST.
Six different players for the Stars recorded multi-point games, and five different players scored in the first. Justin Dowling added his third of the season from the right circle at 6:58. Klingberg then struck at 8:39 to maintain his pace among the AHL’s rookie scoring leaders. Radek Faksa’s slap shot at 10:01 chased Charlotte’s starting goaltender Drew MacIntyre from the game. Brendan Ranford closed out the first period offense with 7:28 remaining on his third of the season.
Jussi Rynnas earned his second straight win, and fourth overall, with a 30-save performance in the Texas net. John Muse came into replace MacIntyre, who took the loss, midway through the first and finished going 22-of-26.
Charlotte found the scoreboard at 12:30 of the second courtesy of Jared Staal in between Hulak’s second and third goals of the night, both power play strikes that came seven minutes apart at 11:27 and 18:27 of the period.
With the win, Texas maintains their hold on first place in the AHL’s West Division. The Stars finished 2-for-4 on the power play. The Checkers went 0-for-3 on the night.
Texas’ Scott Glennie and Charlotte’s AJ Jenks each scored their first goals of the season in the third period.
Three Stars:
1. Derek Hulak (TEX)
2. Travis Morin (TEX)
3. Jussi Rynnas (TEX)
The Texas Stars entered the 2014-15 season as the AHL’s defending Calder Cup Champions. Single-game tickets and season ticket packages for the 2014-15 campaign are on sale now. For more information, call (512) GO-STARS (467-8277) or visit TexasStarsHockey.com.
Photo Credit: Gregg Forwerck/Charlotte Checkers