Dec. 3, 2022

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Five goals by the Texas Stars in the opening stanza was too much for the Grand Rapids Griffins to overcome in a 6-3 loss at Van Andel Arena on Saturday.

Trenton Bliss scored the first goal for the Griffins tonight, the first AHL tally of his career. Recording assists on two of Grand Rapids’ goals tonight, Chase Pearson now has three apples in four games this season.

The Stars’ five goals in the initial frame are the most given up in a period by Grand Rapids since the third stanza on Nov. 26, 2021 against the Chicago Wolves. Thomas Harley kicked things off at 2:51 with a shot into the top-shelf to take the lead and Alex Petrovic’s shot from the blue line was tipped in by Fredrik Olofsson to go up 2-0 at 4:45. The Stars lit the lamp a third time, as Riley Damiani scored on a power play at 8:42, forcing the Griffins to pull Jussi Olkinuora in favor of Victor Brattstrom. Matej Blumel then scored in the goalmouth, making it 4-0 with 9:03 to go.

Bliss interrupted Texas’ scoring barrage at 13:37 with his first AHL point by sneaking the puck inside the right goal post as Anton Khudobin was sliding back to cover the corner. However, Tanner Kero ended the frame with a goal to put Texas up 5-1 with 1:52 remaining in the frame.

The Griffins punched back just 22 seconds into the second, as Taro Hirose capitalized on the Stars’ turnover and scored from the slot to cut the deficit to three. Damiani bagged his second goal of the night while the Stars were short-handed, putting Texas up 6-2 with 5:09 left in the period.
With 19 seconds remaining in the contest, Dominik Shine passed to Pontus Andreasson in the crease and the Swede notched a late tally to end the game with a 6-3 loss.

Notes
- Hirose played in his 200th game as a pro and recorded the fastest goal to start a period this season for Grand Rapids.
- Jared McIsaac also played in his 100th game as a Griffin and in the AHL.
- The Griffins’ 23 penalty minutes were their most of the season.

Box Score
Texas 5 1 0 - 6
Grand Rapids 1 1 1 - 3

1st Period-1, Texas, Harley 4 (Damiani, Karlstrom), 2:51. 2, Texas, Olofsson 3 (Petrovic, Gardner), 4:45. 3, Texas, Damiani 2 (Karlstrom, Bourque), 8:42 (PP). 4, Texas, Blumel 7 (Shea, Kero), 10:57. 5, Grand Rapids, Bliss 1 (Pearson, Kampfer), 13:37. 6, Texas, Kero 5 (Barber, Blumel), 18:08. Penalties-Newpower Gr (interference), 6:53; Edvinsson Gr (holding), 11:16; Gleason Tex (cross-checking), 15:42.

2nd Period-7, Grand Rapids, Hirose 6 (Pearson), 0:22. 8, Texas, Damiani 3 (Olofsson, Harley), 14:51 (SH). Penalties-Barber Tex (high-sticking), 0:43; Studenic Tex (roughing), 4:15; Lacroix Gr (roughing, roughing), 4:15; Smith Gr (hooking), 7:32; Shea Tex (high-sticking), 9:01; Cecconi Tex (roughing, cross-checking), 13:09; Petrovic Tex (high-sticking), 17:28; Gleason Tex (cross-checking), 19:12; Shine Gr (slashing), 19:12.

3rd Period-9, Grand Rapids, Andreasson 6 (Shine, Brattstrom), 19:41. Penalties-Gardner Tex (roughing), 1:53; Lacroix Gr (roughing), 1:53; Gardner Tex (fighting), 4:10; Lacroix Gr (fighting), 4:10; Butcher Tex (delay of game), 5:26; Kampfer Gr (holding), 8:37; McKenzie Tex (roughing, roughing), 15:41; McIsaac Gr (roughing), 15:41.

Shots on Goal-Texas 14-14-11-39. Grand Rapids 12-15-8-35.
Power Play Opportunities-Texas 1 / 5; Grand Rapids 0 / 8.
Goalies-Texas, Khudobin 8-3-2 (35 shots-32 saves). Grand Rapids, Olkinuora 5-5-0 (6 shots-3 saves); Brattstrom 2-4-1 (33 shots-30 saves).
A-5,942

Three Stars
1. TEX Damiani (two goals, assist); 2. TEX Harley (goal, assist); 3. TEX Kero (goal).

Record / Next Game
Grand Rapids: 8-11-1-0 (17 pts.) / Wed., Dec. 7 vs. Iowa 7 p.m. EST
Texas: 11-7-2-2 (26 pts.) / Fri., Dec. 9 vs. Chicago 7 p.m. CST

Photo by Mark Newman/Griffins