Texas Stars raise championship banner

CEDAR PARK, Texas – The Texas Stars opened their home season by raising their Western Conference Championship Banner in front of over 6300 rabid fans. They further thrilled the fans with an exciting, come-from-behind overtime victory against their state rival, the San Antonio Rampage.
The Stars came out a little sluggish and got behind 3-1 early in the second period. Texas came back in the third period to tie the game at three, fell behind 4-3, and then rallied once more on newcomer Ondrej Roman’s first AHL goal.
Star’s forward Scott McCulloch jammed in a power play rebound late in the overtime period to seal the 5-4 win. The entire Texas team spilled out onto the ice to celebrate the win and the Star’s 2-0 season start.
After shutting out San Antonio in the Star’s season opener, goaltender Brent Krahn gave up four goals on 30 shots, but got the win nevertheless. He wasn’t so fortunate one day later against the Peoria Rivermen.
Straying from their trademark defense-first approach, the Stars came out firing against the Rivermen, taking a 2-0 lead into the second period. But with all that energy drained, Peoria scored four unanswered goals in the second against Krahn, who also appeared sluggish and one more against Richard Bachman in the third for a 5-2 win.
“We came out after them hoping to take advantage, Star’s center Travis Morin said. “But it got away from us in the second period.”
The Stars continue their five-game home stand with games against the Lake Erie Monsters and a return visit by Peoria. Contact the writer at: mitch.cooper@prohockeynews.com