Feb. 15, 2022

CEDAR PARK, Texas - The Grand Rapids Griffins prevailed 2-1 against the Texas Stars on Wednesday at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park. Grand Rapids is now 2-1 in its four-game road trip and the team improved to 2-0-1-0 against the Stars this year.

Jonatan Berggren (1-1—2) and Taro Hirose (1-1—2) recorded multi-point games in the victory. After his second-period power-play goal, Berggren is tied with Kyle Criscuolo and Turner Elson for the team lead in goals with 12. Calvin Pickard notched 26 saves and recorded his 15th win on the campaign, which is tied for fifth in the AHL.

The Griffins broke the scoreless tie at 14:36 in the opening frame. On a 3-on-2 break, Criscuolo connected with Berggren on the left wing. Berggren quickly moved the puck to Hirose at the left circle and he did the rest.

Grand Rapids quickly scored its second goal on the first power play chance of the contest. Berggren fired a slap shot from the top of the right circle that sailed past the stick of Adam Scheel with 3:35 remaining to take a 2-0 lead.

At 14:07 in the middle period, Texas cut the deficit to one. After gathering a loose puck in the Grand Rapids’ zone, Curtis McKenzie found Ty Dellandrea, who weaved the puck past Pickard and sent a backhander into the left side of the net.

Late in the third, the Stars looked to tie the contest with a power play opportunity at 16:24. They added an extra skater when they pulled Sheel out of his cage for a 6-on-4 advantage. Pickard and the Griffins’ defense made several stops down the stretch and sealed the 2-1 victory over Texas.

Notes

• Berggren (4-2—6) has points in four out of his last five outings while Hirose has scored (2-3—5) in three out of his last four.

• The Griffins’ win stopped a nine-game streak of the home team earning points in the series.

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

1st Period-1, Grand Rapids, Hirose 11 (Berggren, Criscuolo), 14:36. 2, Grand Rapids, Berggren 12 (Murphy, Hirose), 16:25 (PP). Penalties-Tufte Tex (slashing), 15:26; Bradford Gr (slashing), 18:24.

2nd Period-3, Texas, Dellandrea 9 (McKenzie), 14:07. Penalties-Sebrango Gr (elbowing), 5:02; Cecconi Tex (interference), 10:05; Shea Tex (penalty shot - hooking from behind), 17:20; Lipanov Tex (roughing), 19:41.

3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Caamano Tex (high-sticking), 3:34; Elson Gr (hooking), 16:24.

Shots on Goal-Grand Rapids 13-7-7-27. Texas 6-8-10-24.
Power Play Opportunities-Grand Rapids 1 / 4; Texas 0 / 3.
Goalies-Grand Rapids, Pickard 15-10-5 (24 shots-23 saves). Texas, Scheel 3-5-5 (27 shots-25 saves).
A-3,177

Three Stars
1. GR Berggren (power-play goal, assist); 2. TEX Dellandrea (goal); 3. GR Hirose (goal, assist)

Record / Next Game
Grand Rapids: 18-18-5-2 (43 pts.) / Wed., Feb. 15 at Texas 8 p.m. EST
Texas: 13-18-5-3 (34 pts.) / Wed., Feb. 15 vs. Grand Rapids 7 p.m. CST

Photo by Andy Nietupski / TTL Sports Media