San Antonio Slips by Stars in Overtime, 3-2

Jan 30, 2015

CEDAR PARK, Texas – Rookie center Rocco Grimaldi tallied the game-winner as the Texas Stars were clipped 3-2 in overtime by the in-state rival San Antonio Rampage on Thursday night at Cedar Park Center.

Grimaldi converted a counter-attack breakaway at 5:03 of the extra period to give San Antonio (24-14-4-0) the edge in the contest. He finished with a goal and an assist on the night.

Texas goaltender Jussi Rynnas strung together a series of acrobatic saves late in the contest to force the overtime session, but was unable to fend off a final push from the Rampage.  The Stars netminder stopped 42-of-45 shots while Travis Morin and Julius Honka each scored for Texas in the loss.

The Stars (18-15-10-0) continue their homestand on Saturday against Charlotte at 7:30 p.m.

Texas took an early 2-0 lead before succumbing to a late surge by San Antonio.  Honka opened the scoring at 1:49 of the first, putting a glove side finish on a breakaway started by Stars forward Eric Faille.  Morin added a power play goal at 10:59 of the second to extend his point streak to three games after corralling a loose puck in the right circle and rifling it past Rampage goaltender Dan Ellis to give Texas a two-goal advantage.

San Antonio would score three unanswered, however, to complete the comeback.  The Rampage offense came alive late in the middle frame, when defenseman Jesse Blacker hammered home a power play strike from the left circle with just over a minute to play in the period to cut the Texas lead to 2-1.  Rookie winger Connor Brickley evened the contest at 10:17 of the third, capitalizing on an odd-man rush for his 13th goal of the season.

Texas was 1-for-3 on the power play and San Antonio finished 1-for-5.  The Stars have now converted a power play goal in seven of their last eight games.

Dan Ellis took the win, stopping 26-of-28 between the pipes for the Rampage.

Three Stars:
1.  Rocco Grimaldi (SA)
2.  Jussi Rynnas (TEX)
3.  Vincent Trocheck (SA)