AHL Texas Stars

Oklahoma City Stymies Texas 5-4

Published on December 27, 2012 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Texas Stars News Release


CEDAR PARK, TX - Taylor Hall delivered a hat trick for Oklahoma City, while Colton Sceviour notched two goals for Texas, as the Stars lost a high scoring affair to the Barons 5-4 Thursday night at Cedar Park Center.

Oklahoma City pulled ahead early in the first period thanks to their AHL-leading power play. With Jordie Benn in the penalty box for hooking, Jordan Eberle capitalized on a wrist shot from the left slot at 4:13 to give the Barons a 1-0 lead. Oklahoma City added another goal with the man advantage at the end of the session when Taylor Hall beat the glove of Stars goaltender Jack Campbell with a wicked back door one-timer at 19:41 to widen the gap to 2-0. Texas had opportunities to score and outshot the Barons 12-6 in the period, but went 0-for-3 on the power play while the visitors were 2-for-3.

The Stars responded quickly in the middle frame when Jamie Oleksiak scored his second career goal at 5:20 to cut the deficit to 2-1. Oleksiak took an Oklahoma City turnover from center ice all the way to the right face-off circle and fired a wrister underneath the glove of Barons netminder Yann Danis to tally the unassisted goal. Texas got its special teams back on track and tied the contest 2-2 with a Colton Sceviour power play goal at 14:01. Sceviour flicked a loose puck past Danis into the top shelf to record his seventh goal of the season. The Barons answered right back just over a minute later when Teemu Hartikainen snug a shot by the glove of Campbell, allowing the visitors to reclaim a 3-2 lead. The Stars held a 23-15 advantage in shots at the end of two and cashed in on their only power play of the period, while Oklahoma City was 0-for-2 in the second.

Texas evened things up once again early in the third period on another power play goal. A redirected Brenden Dillon shot found the stick of Antoine Roussel who buried the puck in the back of the net at 5:39 to bring the score to 3-3. The Stars inability to stay out of the penalty box would prove costly however, as Taylor Hall replicated his one-timer from the first period during Texas' eighth penalty of the game to give the Barons a 4-3 edge at 12:43. Less than two minutes later Hall completed the hat trick on a breakaway when he beat Campbell with a confident backhander to push the lead to 5-3. The extra insurance was necessary as Sceviour added his second goal of the game just a minute afterward, finishing off a great cross-slot pass by Oleksiak to bring Texas within one. But a last gasp empty net effort by the Stars came up short and Oklahoma City escaped with a 5-4 victory.

Barons' starter Yann Danis turned away 27-of-31 Stars shots to record the victory, while Texas goaltender Jack Campbell took the loss, stopping 21 of the 26 shots he faced. The Stars ended the game with a 31-26 advantage in the shots column and went 2-for-5 on the power play; Oklahoma City went 3-for-8 with the man advantage.

Texas returns to action on Saturday, December 29th as they host the first place Charlotte Checkers for a 7:00 p.m. faceoff at Cedar Park Center. Saturday's game is the 2013 Stars Calendar Giveaway night, a Family Four Pack Night and features a post-game open ice session. Pro-rated full and partial 2012-13 season seat packages are on sale now. For more information on Texas Stars season tickets call (512) GO-STARS (467-8277) or visit www.TexasStarsHockey.com.




American Hockey League Stories from December 27, 2012


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