CEDAR PARK, Texas -- The Grand Rapids Griffins fell to the Texas Stars in a 6-2 loss after the Stars were propelled by a four-goal third period at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park on Wednesday.

Both Nolan Stevens and Carter Mazur scored in the loss, with Stevens bagging his third goal of the season and Mazur securing his fifth. Stars goaltender Remi Poirier, who made 35 saves tonight, has curated an improved .932 save percentage and a 2.25 goals against average in four games against Grand Rapids compared to his overall .905 save percentage and 3.19 goals against average.

Following a turnover in the Stars’ zone, Stevens ripped the puck past Poirier from the high slot for the first goal of the night at 2:14. With Grand Rapids on a penalty kill, Mavrik Bourque scored his fifth tally in two games against the Griffins, as he tied the game with a slot shot that went past Sebastian Cossa with 12:29 remaining in the opening frame. Right off of a faceoff, Artem Grushnikov blasted a shot from the blue line, which put Texas in front at 14:31.

After a scoreless second period, a giveaway in the Griffins’ zone allowed the Stars to extend their lead when Ben Berard beat Cossa short side from the left face-off dot for a 3-1 lead with 12:32 remaining. Roughly four minutes since its last tally, Texas scored its second power-play goal of the night, as Scott Reedy sent the puck into the net at 11:30.

Grand Rapids found a goal of its own when Mazur placed the disc into a wide-open net from the doorstep to cut Texas’ lead in half with 6:50 left in the game. Fredrik Karlstrom’s empty-net goal from the high slot furthered the Stars’ lead at 17:55. Just eight seconds later, Nicholas Caamano added another tally with a slot shot, which cemented a 6-2 victory for Texas with 1:57 remaining. 

Notes:
- With the loss, the Griffins are now 6-6-1-1 when they score first.
- Grand Rapids had faced Texas in four consecutive contests with the game tonight. Overall, Grand Rapids is 1-4-1-0 in six games against the Stars. 

Box Score
Grand Rapids 1 0 1 - 2
Texas 2 0 4 - 6

1st Period-1, Grand Rapids, Stevens 3 2:14. 2, Texas, Bourque 13 (Stankoven, Pouliot), 7:31 (PP). 3, Texas, Grushnikov 1 (Blumel, Back), 14:31. Penalties-Kasper Gr (interference), 2:56; Tuomisto Gr (tripping), 7:13; Wheatcroft Tex (holding the stick), 9:34; Grushnikov Tex (cross-checking), 14:47.

2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-No Penalties

3rd Period-4, Texas, Berard 1 7:28. 5, Texas, Reedy 5 (Stankoven, Pouliot), 11:30 (PP). 6, Grand Rapids, Mazur 5 (Soderblom, Johansson), 13:10. 7, Texas, Karlstrom 10 (Seminoff), 17:55 (EN). 8, Texas, Caamano 7 18:03. Penalties-Shine Gr (slashing), 11:17; Karlstrom Tex (holding), 15:13; Berggren Gr (roughing, roughing, misconduct - abuse of officials), 17:55; Grushnikov Tex (roughing, roughing), 17:55; Cossa Gr (tripping), 18:53.

Shots on Goal-Grand Rapids 11-9-17-37. Texas 13-11-14-38.
Power Play Opportunities-Grand Rapids 0 / 3; Texas 2 / 4.
Goalies-Grand Rapids, Cossa 4-6-3 (37 shots-32 saves). Texas, Poirier 8-3-2 (37 shots-35 saves).
A-5,468

Three Stars
1. TEX Poirier (W, 35 saves); 2. TEX Grushnikov (goal); 3. TEX Berard (goal)

Record / Next Game
Grand Rapids: 9-13-3-1 (22 pts.) / Wed., Dec. 27 at Rockford 8 p.m.
Texas: 16-6-2-1 (35 pts.) / Fri., Dec. 29 at Manitoba 7 p.m. CST

Photo by Texas Stars