Friday, February 6 – Texas 2, Manitoba 1
Despite only three shots on target in the opening stages, Texas struck twice in the opening five minutes, scoring goals 36 seconds apart. Trey Taylor opened the scoring at 4:13 with his sixth of the season, setting up a rebound, followed by Antonio Stranges’ 10th at 4:49, finishing off a pass from Kole Lind to put the Stars ahead by a pair.
Texas led 2-0 after 20 minutes, despite leading 6-3.
There was no scoring in the middle frame as Manitoba defeated the Stars 14-10, but still trailed by two.
Captain Mason Shaw reached Manitoba within one hour at 5:44 p.m. Parker Ford found Shaw on the side of the left post from behind the Stars’ net, and he beat Remi Poirier for his team-leading 13th of the season.
Although Manitoba defeated Texas 25-15, it wasn’t enough as the Stars snapped Manitoba’s three-game winning streak with a 2-1 regular season win, their sixth in a row.
Domenic DiVincentiis made 13 saves as Manitoba fell to 22-16-3.
Saturday, February 7 – Texas 4, Manitoba 3
The two Central Division clubs went right back at it the next night, with Manitoba hoping for a better result.
Kole Lind opened the scoring at 13:53 with his ninth of the year. Tristan Bertucci sent a pass to Lind at the side of the net, and he tapped it into the gaping cage to give Texas a 1-0 lead.
Like Friday, Manitoba trailed after 20 minutes, but this time by just one goal, beating Texas 16-8.
Manitoba kept up the pressure in the second period, outscoring Texas 11-4, and it paid off. Brad Lambert tied the game at 8:01. Elias Salomonsson’s point shot was blocked in front, and after a struggle, Lambert backhanded the puck past Poirier for his sixth of the season.
The Moose refused to go into the break tied as Shaw scored his second in as many games with 42 seconds left to give Manitoba a 2-1 lead and his 14th of the campaign.
Things turned around in the third. Jack Becker made it 2-2 at 8:57 after Ayrton Martino picked off Thomas Milic’s pass from behind the net and put Becker in front, an unfortunate turnover that swung the momentum in the home side’s favour.
Texas regained the lead just 1:43 later when Justin Ertel deflected a point shot from Vladislav Kolyachonok for his second, making it 3-2. Michael Karow added another at 16:10 to make it 4-2.
Shaw scored his second of the game and third of the weekend at 18:01 to cut the deficit to one and push his team-leading total to 15, but Poirier closed the door the rest of the way as Texas won its seventh straight and handed Manitoba its second straight loss.
Manitoba dominated the shot total 36-20. Milic made 16 saves as the Moose fell to 22-17-3.
“I think there are a few things you can take away and say they went well, but in the end we couldn’t get the win,” said Moose forward Danny Zhilkin. “I just have to regroup, enjoy the break and come back stronger.”
The Moose don’t play again until Valentine’s Day, when they open a four-game homestand against the Calgary Wranglers at 2:00 PM CST. Before that, the AHL All-Star Classic will take place Feb. 10-11 in Rockford, where Milic will represent Manitoba.
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