Nov. 19, 2021

CEDAR PARK, Texas– The Grand Rapids Griffins prevailed in an overtime thriller over the Texas Stars, 5-4 on Friday at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park. The Griffins are now winners of three straight on the road.

Grand Rapids scored the first score of the night at the 10:29 mark. Brett McKenzie sent an initial shot toward net, but Colin Point made the save. Dominik Shine was at the right wing and got the rebound off the defender’s skate to score his first goal of the season. McKenzie is making the most of his professional tryout, as he has three points (1-2—3) in his first two games as a Griffin.

With 6:58 remaining, Donovan Sebrango got to a loose puck and sent it down to Taro Hirose. Hirose carried the puck down the right side of the Texas zone and sent a one-timer into the net from the right circle giving Grand Rapids a two-goal advantage.

After a Griffins penalty, Texas was able to score during its first power play of the evening. At the 15:39 mark, Curtis McKenzie sent back a pass to Joel L’Esperance who stood at the goal mouth, sending his wrister past the glove of Calvin Pickard.

As the period was coming to an end, the Griffins were able to extend their lead back to two with 1:45 remaining. Brian Lashoff took a long shot from the blue line through traffic that found its way into the right corner, marking his first goal of the season.

Heading into the second period, the Stars looked to cut the deficit. At the 7:24 mark, Oskar Back sent the puck across the ice finding Ty Dellandrea who scored from the left circle.

Another Grand Rapids penalty put Texas in position to tie the game at three. With 9:47 remaining in the middle frame, Thomas Harley passed to an open L’Esperance at the right post for a tap-in goal, giving L’Esperance two tallies in the contest.

The Stars converted on their third unanswered goal at 10:52 when they found themselves on a 2-on-1 break. Harley connected with Jeremy Gregoire who sent a wrister past the left leg of Pickard.

Down one goal, the Griffins were able to tie the contest at four apiece with 2:57 left in the second. Tyler Spezia split the defenders going right-to-left and skated toward the goal to tuck the biscuit past the netminder Adam Scheel, who replaced Point at the beginning of the period.

After a scoreless third frame, the contest was sent into overtime. At the 1:30 mark, Hirose skated down the left side finding Turner Elson at the right circle who hammered a slap shot over the glove of Scheel, giving Grand Rapids a 5-4 victory.

Notes

• Jon Martin bagged his 50th assists as a pro.

• Martin (0-2—2) and McKenzie (1-2—3) are now on a two-game point streak.

• Pickard has won five of his last six starts.

Box Score
Grand Rapids 3 1 0 1 - 5
Texas 1 3 0 0 - 4

1st Period-1, Grand Rapids, Shine 1 (McKenzie), 10:29. 2, Grand Rapids, Hirose 3 (Sebrango, Renouf), 13:02. 3, Texas, L’Esperance 5 (McKenzie, Damiani), 15:39 (PP). 4, Grand Rapids, Lashoff 1 (Spezia, McKenzie), 18:15. Penalties-L’Esperance Tex (interference), 4:34; Witkowski Gr (high-sticking), 15:02.

2nd Period-5, Texas, Dellandrea 2 (Back, Borgman), 7:24. 6, Texas, L’Esperance 6 (Harley, Damiani), 10:13 (PP). 7, Texas, Gregoire 1 (Harley, Kawaguchi), 10:52. 8, Grand Rapids, Spezia 3 (Martin, Sebrango), 17:03. Penalties-Lashoff Gr (high-sticking), 0:18; Harley Tex (tripping), 1:00; Shine Gr (instigating, fighting, misconduct - instigating), 4:59; Rosburg Tex (fighting), 4:59; Kero Tex (interference), 8:11; Elson Gr (slashing), 10:01; McKenzie Tex (high-sticking), 12:57.

3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Lashoff Gr (interference), 2:44.

OT Period-9, Grand Rapids, Elson 5 (Hirose, Pickard), 1:30. Penalties-No Penalties

Shots on Goal-Grand Rapids 10-7-5-1-23. Texas 8-12-7-0-27.
Power Play Opportunities-Grand Rapids 0 / 4; Texas 2 / 5.
Goalies-Grand Rapids, Pickard 6-2-1 (27 shots-23 saves). Texas, Point 1-1-0 (10 shots-7 saves); Scheel 0-0-1 (13 shots-11 saves).
A-4,510

Three Stars

1. GR Elson (game-winning goal); 2. TEX L’Esperance (two power play goals); 3. GR Spezia (goal, assist)

Record / Next Game
Grand Rapids: 6-5-1-1 (14 pts.) / Sat., Nov. 20 at Texas 8 p.m. EST

Texas: 5-6-1-1 (12 pts.) / Sat., Nov. 20 vs. Grand Rapids 7 p.m. CST

Photo by Andy Nietupski/TTL Sports Media