Stars Score Twice Late, but Fall in a Shootout

Feb 19, 2022

CEDAR PARK, Texas – The Texas Stars, American Hockey League affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars, scored twice with the goaltender pulled in the final 2:32 of regulation to force overtime, but the San Jose Barracuda won 7-6 in a shootout Saturday at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park.

 

San Jose opened the scoring 5:45 into the game when Cole Moberg snapped a shot from the left circle past Adam Scheel, but Texas answered 15 seconds later when Joe Cecconi lopped a pass through the neutral zone that connected with Jeremy Gregoire, who beat Alexei Melnichuk on a breakaway.

 

Shortly after the Stars’ first power play ended, Ryan Shea put his team in front for the first time when he ripped a shot into the net through traffic for his first professional goal. Texas carried that 2-1 lead into the locker room after 20 minutes.

 

The Barracuda used a four-goal second period to leapfrog in front of the Stars 5-3 heading into the third. Mark Alt tied the game at 2-2 just four minutes into the frame. Texas, however, regained the lead when Fredrik Karlstrom scooped up his own rebound on a breakaway attempt and scored his eighth goal of the campaign.

 

Artemi Kniazev evened the score on a Barracuda power play, and Santeri Hatakka responded with the go-ahead goal for San Jose just 31 seconds later. The first four Barracuda goals came from four different defensemen. The Stars pulled Scheel after the fourth goal and replaced him with Matt Jurusik. San Jose added one more before the end of the middle frame when Kyle Topping hopped out of the penalty box and beat Jurusik on a breakaway.

 

Anthony Louis brought the Stars back to within one when he snapped a shot off the crossbar and in with 10:33 to play in regulation, but the Barracuda added a power play goal to lead 6-4 when John Leonard knocked in a rebound that banked off the end boards and into the left circle.

 

Late in regulation, Curtis McKenzie swept in a rebound at the edge of the crease with an extra attacker on the ice to make it 6-5 with 2:32 remaining. Texas tied the game with 22 seconds left when Joel L’Esperance snapped a shot that was tipped by Ty Dellandrea to force overtime in dramatic fashion.

 

Following a scoreless overtime period, the Stars were shut down on all three shootout attempts by Melnichuk, and San Jose’s Joachim Blichfeld scored in the third round to win the game 7-6.

 

Texas finishes off an eight-game homestand Sunday at 5:00 p.m. in a rematch with the Barracuda at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park. Tickets are available at www.texasstars.com/tickets.

Photo Credit: Ross Bonander

Game Info	Shots	Goaltenders	3 Stars (Xerox Business Solutions Southwest)
Boxscore	TEX: 39	W: Melnichuk (SJ)	1: Joachim Blichfeld (SJ)
Photo	OPP: 30	L: Jurusik (TEX)	2: Curtis McKenzie (TEX)
Video			3: Ryan Shea (TEX)