Firebirds Shock Stars Late in California
Published on March 23, 2024 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Texas Stars News Release
PALM DESERT, California - The Texas Stars, American Hockey League affiliate of the NHL's Dallas Stars, fell 4-2 to the Coachella Valley Firebirds after allowing three late goals on Saturday night at Acrisure Arena.
Ryan Winterton put Coachella Valley in front first 15:58 into the opening period when he shelfed an accurate short side shot over Remi Poirier's shoulder close to the right post. Alex Petrovic then tied the game 1-1 for the Stars at 18:13 when his shot from the top of the right circle ramped up over Chris Driedger before trickling across the goal line.
In the second period, Matej Blumel scored his team-leading 26th goal of the season to give Texas a 2-1 lead at 14:44 on a one-timer fired past Driedger from the right circle after it was fed over by Derrick Pouliot.
The Firebirds tied the game with 4:46 remaining in regulation with Andrew Poturalski sliding a shot past Poirier in the slot after evading traffic to get to the front of the net. Coachella Valley then grabbed a 3-2 lead with Max McCormick tipping a shot from Kole Lind past Poirier with 42.5 seconds left on the clock. Cameron Hughes guaranteed a 4-2 win by scoring another on a rebound for the Firebirds 14 seconds later, which made it 4-2 with just under half a minute to play.
Earning the win in goal for the Firebirds, Driedger made 21 stops on 23 shots to improve to 19-6-5 on the season. Despite making a career-high 41 saves, Poirier came down with the loss for Texas to fall to 16-14-4 on the campaign.
The Stars return to the Lone Star State to host the Iowa Wild in their next action on Friday and Saturday with 7:00 p.m. face-offs scheduled for both nights during Military Appreciation Weekend at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park.
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