Reign Prevail in Wild 13-Goal Affair over Stars
November 21, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Ontario Reign News Release
Ontario Reign vs. Texas Stars
(Ontario Reign)
Cedar Park, TX - Forwards Michael Mersch and Jordan Samuels-Thomas each scored twice and three other Reign players earned multi-point games as the Ontario Reign (10-2-2-0) took down the Texas Stars (9-7-0-1) 7-6 at Cedar Park Center Saturday evening.
Box Score Six goals found the back of the net in the first period with the Reign taking a 4-2 lead into the intermission. Mersch opened the scoring 1:55 into the contest with his team-leading eighth goal of the season with help from defenseman Kurtis MacDermid and forward Nic Dowd. Moments later, MacDermid made it 2-0 with an unassisted drive over the glove of Stars netminder John Muse (one save on three shots) at 4:01. Muse would immediately be replaced by Jack Campbell (L, 24 saves on 29 shots). The Starts responded to the switch as forward Greg Rallo cut the lead in half at 10:33. Stars leading goal scorer Devin Shore reset the game at 12:51 with a power-play goal, beating Reign goaltender Ray Emery (W, 31 saves on 37 shots). Mersch pulled the momentum back onto the Reign bench by stealing a rebound from Campbell and lighting the lamp on the man advantage at 14:22. Forward Adrian Kempe reclaimed the two-goal lead with 4:10 left in the period, catching a pass from forward Sean Backman and ripping a shot past Campbell from the right-wing circle.
The momentum swings continued in the second period as both sides struck twice and the Reign held a 6-4 advantage at the break. Stars defenseman Esa Lindell capitalized on the power play 53 seconds into the frame floating a shot past a screened Emery. Samuels-Thomas retaliated for Ontario at 4:54 after slipping a shot under the skate of Campbell from the right-wing circle. Backman made it 6-3 just 25 seconds later with a power-play blast from the left point from Dowd and defenseman Kevin Gravel. The Stars added their second power-play goal at 9:50 from Matej Stransky.
The Stars continued to fight back and tied the contest in the third period behind tallies from forward Justin Dowling (1:35) and Rallo (11:54), but Samuels-Thomas provided the late-game heroics, burying the game-winning goal at 16:27. Forward Andrew Crescenzi found Samuels-Thomas camped out at the back post of Campbell for the easy tap-in.
Ontario finished the contest 2-for-4 on the power play while the Stars went 2-for-7. The Reign finished the three-game road trip with a 2-1-0-0 record.
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 Ontario Reign vs. Texas Stars |
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