Stars Top Gulls, 6-3, to Win Sixth Straight
Feb 17, 2016
Boxscore
Shots:
Stars - 35
Gulls - 45
Ritchie Tallies a Four-Point Night for Texas
SAN DIEGO -- Brett Ritchie’s four-point game led the way for the Texas Stars in their 6-3 win over the San Diego Gulls on Wednesday night to open up a three-game road trip in front of 5,947 in attendance at Valley View Casino Center. It was the sixth straight win for the Stars.
Ritchie added an empty-net goal on top of three assists in the game. Maxime Lagace stopped 42 shots in net to earn his 11th win in his last 12 starts, and the Stars (31-18-3-3) closed out their season series against the Gulls (23-20-1-1) winning five of the six matchups.
Texas will continue their road trip on Friday against the Ontario Reign at 9 p.m. CST in a battle of the Pacific Division’s top two teams. The Stars are currently chasing the Reign for first place.
The Stars opened up a two-goal cushion in the first and had an answer all game for a San Diego response. Remi Elie banged home a loose puck in a scramble in front at 9:30 of period one for his fifth of the season. Matej Stransky then used a Texas power play and a touch-passing sequence from Brendan Ranford and Derek Hulak to bury a one-timer from the slot at 14:43 to make it 2-0 entering the break.
Chris Mueller responded for San Diego early in the second, but Jason Dickinson capped off an odd-man rush with Ritchie at 6:47 for his 15th of the season and his 10th point in the past seven games. Ondrej Kase slipped a rebound goal past Lagace at 10:52, but seven minutes later Cole Ully made it a 4-2 lead for the Stars on a rebound goal in front.
Andrew O’Brien made one last push for the Gulls with a goal midway through the third to make the score 4-3, but Ritchie sent Curtis McKenzie on a breakaway less than two minutes later at 10:33 for his 12th of the season. Ritchie capped off his offensive night with an empty-net goal off a faceoff late in the frame.
The Stars finished 1-for-3 on the power play, and held the Gulls scoreless in five chances.
Matt Hackett suffered the loss in net stopping 29 of 34 shots.
The Stars have won 10 of their last 12 games.
The Texas Stars are the primary development affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars and currently in their seventh season at Cedar Park Center. Full season, 24-game and 12-game ticket packages for the 2015-16 campaign are on sale now. For more information, call (512) GO-STARS (467-8277) or visit TexasStars.com.
Three Stars:
1. Brett Ritchie (TEX)
2. Curtis McKenzie (TEX)
3. Ondrej Kase (SD) |
Goaltenders:
W - Lagace
L - Hackett
|
Photo Credit: Vince Rappleyea/San Diego Gulls