CEDAR PARK, Texas -- Turnovers and penalties plagued the Grand Rapids Griffins in their 7-4 loss to the Texas Stars at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park on Saturday evening. The Griffins went on the penalty kill four times on Saturday, giving up two power-play goals for the second night in a row.

Cross Hanas, Jonatan Berggren, Amadeus Lombardi and Tyler Spezia all scored in the contest. Spezia’s goal marks his 50th as a pro. Taro Hirose’s assist on Lombardi’s goal tied him with Eric Tangradi for ninth on the Griffins’ all-time points list with 177. 

The Griffins began their first period strong by racking up five straight shots against the Stars. Despite this, Texas was able to capitalize early when Fredrik Karlstrom went one-on-one with Michael Hutchinson, scoring from the slot to take the lead at 6:27. The Stars struck again 14 seconds after their first goal with Matej Blumel tallying their second from the high slot with 13:19 remaining in the frame.

Grand Rapids battled back quickly, as Hanas cut the Stars’ lead in half with a bullet sent past Remi Poirer from the low slot at 10:39. Texas’ advantage did not hold for long when Berggren ripped a blast from the blueline for the equalizer with 8:38 remaining in the first. With time winding down in the opening frame, Logan Stankoven collected his second goal of the series on a 3-on-1 breakaway at 19:11 to put the Stars back on top, 3-2.

The Stars continued to capitalize on their momentum with another quick goal in the opening minutes of the second. Mavrik Bourque received a pass in the low slot and slid the puck into the net for a 4-2 lead with 18:52 remaining in the middle frame. Midway through the second, the Griffins found themselves killing a 5-on-3 Stars power play. Blumel netted his second of the night with a power-play goal from the crease at 11:26.

With the Griffins still on the penalty kill after the man-advantage tally, Antonio Stranges scored the Texas' sixth goal of the evening on the power-play with 8:05 remaining in the second period. After the Stars’ tally, Jonathan Lethemon replaced Hutchinson in net. Stranges tallied his second goal of the evening off a left-circle shot at 16:12 for a 7-2 Stars lead.

Early in the final period, Lombardi beat Poirer gloveside from the blueline for a Griffins power-play goal with 16:05 remaining. At 15:18 in the contest, Spezia sunk a shot five hole from the right circle to cut the lead to three. Following Spezia’s goal, no other scoring ensued and the Stars walked away with a 7-4 win and a weekend series sweep.

Notes:
- Struggles on the road continue for the Griffins, as they have yet to find a second win away from home ice this season.
- Hirose led the team in scoring against the Stars in this weekend series with one goal and two assists (1-2--3). He also leads the Griffins in points this season with 12 (4-8--12) through 13 games.

Box Score
Grand Rapids 2 0 2 - 4
Texas 3 4 0 - 7

1st Period-1, Texas, Karlstrom 6 (Stranges, Damiani), 6:27. 2, Texas, Blumel 6 (Back, Karlstrom), 6:41. 3, Grand Rapids, Hanas 2 (Rafferty), 10:39. 4, Grand Rapids, Berggren 2 11:22. 5, Texas, Stankoven 10 19:11. Penalties-Wheatcroft Tex (slashing), 0:35; Stevens Gr (hooking), 8:08; Kyrou Tex (hooking), 15:53.

2nd Period-6, Texas, Bourque 7 (Karlstrom), 1:08. 7, Texas, Blumel 7 (Bourque, Stankoven), 11:26 (PP). 8, Texas, Stranges 2 (Damiani, Kyrou), 11:55 (PP). 9, Texas, Stranges 3 16:12. Penalties-Pouliot Tex (slashing), 6:05; Johansson Gr (slashing), 9:41; Shine Gr (slashing), 10:42; Stevens Gr (misconduct - abuse of officials), 11:55; Didier Gr (roughing), 20:00.

3rd Period-10, Grand Rapids, Lombardi 2 (Edvinsson, Hirose), 3:55 (PP). 11, Grand Rapids, Spezia 2 (Hanas, Edvinsson), 15:18. Penalties-Berard Tex (delay of game), 3:18; White Tex (tripping), 12:01.

Shots on Goal-Grand Rapids 21-6-14-41. Texas 10-11-10-31.
Power Play Opportunities-Grand Rapids 1 / 5; Texas 2 / 4.
Goalies-Grand Rapids, Hutchinson 2-4-0 (18 shots-12 saves); Lethemon 0-0-0 (13 shots-12 saves). Texas, Poirier 4-1-2 (41 shots-37 saves).
A-5,723

Three Stars
1. TEX Stranges (two goals, assist); 2. TEX Karlstrom (one goal, two assists); 3. TEX Blumel (two goals)

Record / Next Game
Grand Rapids: 4-7-1-1 (10 pts.) / Fri., Nov. 24 vs Manitoba 7 p.m.
Texas: 8-3-2-1 (19 pts.) / Fri., Nov. 24 at Colorado 8:05 p.m. CST

Photo by Texas Stars