CEDAR PARK, Texas – The Stars defeated Grand Rapid 5-3 in front of 6,094 fans at Cedar Park Center Friday night. After initially giving up three goals to the Griffins, the Stars notched five unanswered goals to score the win. Right wing Colton Sceviour tallied two goals and an assist to lead the comeback. Forwards Aaron Gagnon, Greg Rallo and Mathieu Tousignant each supplied a goal for the Stars. Rallo and defenseman Maxime Fortunus each had multi-point nights in the win, improving Texas to 20-10-3-3 at home this season. Texas goalie Richard Bachman (25-16-5) stopped 17 of 20 shots to preserve the win. Grand Rapids goalie Jordan Pearce (19-10-5) stopped 33 shots in the loss.
Griffins center Cory Emmerton tallied the first goal on the night midway through the opening period at 10:49. Emmerton shot the puck past Bachman to notch his 11th goal of the season. Defenseman Derek Meech and left wing Chris Minard each supplied an assist to give Grand Rapids a 1-0 lead.
Grand Rapids extended its lead to 2-0 as center Joakim Andersson slipped the puck in at 6:32 in the second. The Griffins stretched the lead to 3-0 with a shorthanded goal from right wing Jamie Tardif at 13:26. The Stars responded at 14:14 with a goal from right wing Colton Sceviour. Defensemen Jordie Benn and Maxime Fortunus each received an assist to make the score 3-1 Griffins. Texas right wing Greg Rallo tallied his 25th goal of the season with 1:41 remaining in the second period. Sceviour and left wing Francis Wathier each assisted on the goal, trimming the Griffins lead to 3-2 after 40 minutes of play.
Texas center Aaron Gagnon tied the game up with just 1:15 into the third period. Right wing Sean Backman set up Gagnon’s breakaway goal to tie the game 3-3. At 11:26, center Mathieu Tousignant gave the Stars their first lead of the night. Fortunus and right wing Ray Sawada each tallied an assist to give the Stars a 4-3 lead. The Stars finished the scoring at 15:57, as Sceviour netted a power-play goal, his second goal of the night. Rallo and defenseman Dan Spang each provided an assist on the play to give Texas a 5-3 final.
The Stars and Griffins will meet again on Saturday night at 7:00 PM.
Comment@prohockeynews.com
You must be logged in to post a comment.