Texas Beats Oklahoma City 4-3 in Overtime
Mar 21, 2014
Scott Glennie tallied two goals, including the game-winner in overtime, as the Texas Stars toppled the Oklahoma City Barons 4-3 Friday night in front of 5,808 fans at Cedar Park Center.
The Barons jumped in front first when C.J. Stretch completed a give-and-go with former Star Austin Fyten and carried the puck around a sprawling Cristopher Nilstorp for a 1-0 Oklahoma City lead. The Stars evened things up on the power play as Travis Morin found Curtis McKenzie on the right side of the net, where he executed a beautiful spinning backhand pass across the crease to a wide-open Scott Glennie, who hammered in the one-timer for his 11th goal of the year.
A miscommunication behind the Stars net led to Barons’ right wing Matthew Ford picking up a turnover and backhanding it home to put Oklahoma City ahead 2-1 at 11:39 of the second period. Texas answered with another goal from their AHL-leading power play unit as Dustin Jeffrey ripped a wrist shot from the top of the right circle through a screen and in to pull the Stars level at two. The Barons regained their lead just 52 seconds later when Alex Lavoie collected the rebound of a shot that pinballed its way through traffic and put it into the net to make it 3-2.
Rookie Brett Ritchie tied the game at three midway through the third period, streaking in between two defensemen and launching a sensational backhand that went off the right post and in. The Ritchie goal, his 17th of the year, was assisted by Mike Hedden, who recorded his 200th career professional point. The teams remained deadlocked through the end of regulation, sending the game to overtime.
Just past the midpoint of overtime, Jeffrey launched a shot that was initially stopped by Barons’ goalie Richard Bachman, but the puck careened off the body of Glennie and into the goal to give the Stars the victory at 2:50 of the extra session. It was Glennie’s second goal of the night, his 12th of the season, assisted by Jeffrey and Derek Meech, who had two assists on the game.
Cristopher Nilstorp (22-12-4) stopped 34-of-37 shots faced and earned his 22nd win of the season in goal for Texas. Nilstorp also passed the 15,000 minutes played milestone for his pro career during the first period. Oklahoma City goalie Richard Bachman (20-17-4) had 37 saves on 41 shots, suffering his 17th loss of the season. The Stars outshot the Barons 41-37and went 2-for-4 on the power play, while Oklahoma City was 0-for-2 with the man-advantage.
Notes: Stars defenseman Derek Meech played in his 550th career pro game. Texas became the second team in the AHL this season to reach the 40-win mark and is now tied with Manchester (88 pts.) for the most points in the league with 11 games remaining in the regular season.
The Texas Stars will face the Oklahoma City Barons again on Saturday, March 22nd for a 7:00 p.m. face off at Cedar Park Center. Saturday’s game is the second night of Military Appreciation Weekend presented by Round Rock Auto Group. Saturday is a Coke Zero Family Four Pack Night, a Texas Lottery Lucky Row Night and is the Texas Stars arctic camo hat giveaway presented by Round Rock Auto Group. Pro-rated full and partial 2013-14 Texas Stars Season Tickets are on sale now. For more information on Texas Stars season tickets call (512) GO-STARS (467-8277) or visit www.TexasStarsHockey.com.