CEDAR PARK, Texas – Brandon DeFazio and Justin Dowling each scored for the second straight game, and Maxime Lagace turned aside 43 shots in net, to lead the Texas Stars to a 4-2 win over the Charlotte Checkers on Saturday night at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park.
Andrew Bodnarchuk and Gemel Smith also scored the Stars (2-0-0-0). Texas swept their two-game set against the Checkers (0-2-0-0) to open up the 2016-17 regular season. Lagace stopped 77 of 81 total shots in net for the Stars over the weekend.
The Checkers struck first with a goal from Andrew Poturalski at 12:12 of the first period, but the one-goal lead was short-lived when Dowling set up DeFazio two minutes later in front of the net for a power play goal. With 1:14 remaining in the first, Bodnarchuk dug the puck free from the skates of a Charlotte defender in the left circle and snapped home his first goal in a Texas sweater to make it a 2-1, Texas lead.
Charlotte pulled even at 6:04 of period two with a shorthanded goal by Patrick Brown, but the Stars quickly returned fire again when Gemel Smith finished off an odd-man rush at 8:16 for his first of the season.
Dowling added an empty-net goal late in third to seal the 4-2 final.
Texas was outshot in the game 45-21. The Texas penalty kill unit held the Checkers scoreless on seven man-advantage opportunities. The Stars finished 1-for-5 on the power play.
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