CEDAR PARK, Texas – The Texas Stars, American Hockey League affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars, kicked off their final home weekend of the regular season with a 5-3 win over the Manitoba Moose on Friday night at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park, fueled by a four-goal first period.
Kyle Capobianco opened the scoring for the Stars at 8:42 of the first period, firing a wrist shot from the top of the right circle just one second after Texas’ first power play of the game expired. Capobianco added his second of the frame with 7:20 remaining, this time beating Domenic DiVincentiis with another wrist shot. Cameron Hughes extended the lead on the power play, walking across the slot and lifting a backhand over DiVincentiis’ glove. Axel Jonsson-Fjällby got Manitoba on the board with a short-handed breakaway goal at 2:32, but the Stars responded quickly. Just 34 seconds later, Justin Hryckowian capitalized on another power play opportunity to give Texas a 4-1 lead after one.
Ben King trimmed Texas’s lead to two at 5:59 of the second period, when his shot from the slot slipped past Magnus Hellberg.
Fabian Wagner pulled the Moose within one at 6:20 of the third period, beating Hellberg with a close-range shot over the glove. However, Hryckowian sealed the 5-3 victory for Texas with an empty-net goal in the final minute of regulation.
Matej Blümel’s three assists tonight brought him within one point of the AHL scoring lead and made him just the third player in franchise history to eclipse 70 points in a single season.
Hellberg turned aside 22 of 25 shots to earn the win for the Stars, while DiVincentiis stopped 22 of 26 shots in the loss for the Moose.
The Stars will finish the regular season schedule when they face the Moose on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. in their final home game of the season at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park. Tickets are on sale at www.texasstars.com/tickets.
The Texas Stars are the primary development affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars. For more information, call (512) GO-STARS (467-8277) or visit TexasStars.com.
Photo Credit: Logan Foust
