Griffins Outlast Stars in 5-4 Thriller
December 18, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Texas Stars News Release
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Grand Rapids Griffins needed three third period goals and few bounces in their favor to hold on for a 5-4 win over the Texas Stars on Friday night at Van Andel Arena in front of 7,311 in attendance.
The win extends the Griffins' (15-8-0-1) franchise record winning streak to 13 games. Curtis McKenzie notched his 100th career AHL point with a late third period goal to pull Texas (14-11-2-2) within one. In the final minute of regulation Travis Morin missed a one-time shot from the slot and the Stars rang a shot off Jared Coreau's shoulder, which the Grand Rapids goaltender never saw, in an effort to tie the score.
The Stars and Griffins will square off again on Saturday at 6 p.m. CST.
Trailing 3-2 entering the third period, the Griffins scored three times to take a 5-3 lead over the Stars off goals from Tyler Bertuzzi 48 seconds in, Anthony Mantha on the power play at 14:26 and Louis-Marc Aubry's deflection at 15:20. Less than a minute after Aubry's goal, McKenzie set the table for the photo finish when he tipped Morin's centering pass past Coreau for his fourth goal of the season to make it 5-4.
Jack Campbell finished 36 of 41 in net for the Stars in the losing effort. Coreau earned his 11th win of the season going 27 of 31.
Texas jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first as Morin converted a breakaway chance 38 seconds in, and Justin Dowling drilled a one-timer power play goal from the right circle at 4:08 off an assist from Brett Ritchie to extend both of their point streaks to four games. Jeff Hoggan made it a 2-1 score at 6:32 with his second of the season.
The offense stayed quiet until 17:51 of the second when Martin Frk's shot from the blue line beat Campbell to tie the game. Just when it looked like the second would end tied, Brendan Ranford buried Jason Dickinson's centering feed from the right wing corner for his seventh of the season with just over a second remaining, and Texas carried a 3-2 lead into the break.
The Texas power play remained hot going 1-for-4 in the game. Grand Rapids finished 2-for-4.
The Texas Stars are the primary development affiliate of the NHL's Dallas Stars and currently in their seventh season at Cedar Park Center. Full season, 24-game and 12-game ticket packages for the 2015-16 campaign are on sale now. For more information, call (512) GO-STARS (467-8277) or visit TexasStars.com.
Three Stars:
1. Anthony Mantha (GR)
2. Travis Morin (TEX)
3. Xavier Ouellet (GR)
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