A three-goal performance from Arttu Hyry sealed the deal for the Texas Stars in their 6-2 win over the Manitoba Moose. Two other Stars players recorded three-point (1G, 2A) games.
Manitoba got the early jump as they found themselves with a 4-1 shot advantage as the period started. A couple of notable plays from the Moose nearly gave them an early lead too, but Magnus Hellberg kept the game scoreless and gave Texas that extra advantage.
Dmitry Kuzmin would fly up the left wing and make a couple of good moves to beat two Texas defenders, when he ran out of real estate, he passed the puck to Parker Ford right in front of Hellberg who made the pad save to keep Manitoba off the board.
Texas continued to build momentum as time wound down and they ramped up their physicality.
While Manitoba would get the only power play chance of the first period, Texas would prevent Manitoba from registering a shot for the last 12:09 of the first period.
Arttu Hyry, who took a bad elbowing penalty, would redeem himself after the Moose would bobble the puck in front of the net and Hyry would bury the puck to put the Stars up 1-0.
Closing out the first period, Manitoba trailed 1-0 and were outshot 10-4, including nine straight shots for the Stars.
The second period didn’t get any easier for Manitoba as they added another 1:24 to their total without a shot on goal.
Manitoba found themselves on the power play again, which would fall flat again. As soon as Kyle Capobianco got out of the penalty box, he would find Matej Blumel with a nice cross-ice feed for Blumel’s first of the game. The 2-0 insurance marker gave Texas some extra breathing room against the Moose who were pushing heavy in the early going of the second frame.
Just seconds after Blumel’s goal, Tyrel Bauer would get called for interference, and Alex Petrovic took exception to the hit. Both players engaged in a lengthy fight that evened the momentum between both teams.
Manitoba and Texas kept going back and forth, but the Moose found themselves on the penalty kill. They kept Texas at bay, and a 2-on-1 shorthanded break presented itself for Jaret Anderson-Dolan and Dominic Toninato. Anderson-Dolan was unable to find the stick of Toninato and the play shot back the other way.
Minutes after the Moose’s successful penalty kill, Arttu Hyry got his second of the game after a back-and-forth passing sequence between Cameron Hughes and Hyry. Hyry buried it for his second of the game to put the Stars up 3-0.
Just 1:01 later, Mason Shaw shot up the right wing and had more than enough time and space. His first shot was blocked by a Stars defender, but the puck bounced right back to him and Shaw fired it low for his fifth goal of the season.
Manitoba closed the second period trailing 3-1 and being outshot 21-12, but they had more offensive zone rushes and more momentum in their favour after Shaw’s goal.
The third period was the final dagger for the Moose as Arttu Hyry scored the hat-trick goal to make it 4-1 for Texas. Following some more back-and-forth play, Cameron Hughes took a tripping penalty and seconds after he got out of the box, he would score top shelf to put Texas up 5-1.
The Moose didn’t go away quietly as Toninato got behind the net and found Simon Lundmark who got the initial shot off for Simon Lundmark to pick up the rebound and make it 5-2. However, the Moose’s celebration wouldn’t last long as Antonio Stranges scored 47 seconds later to make it a final score of 6-2 Texas.
Both teams are back in action on Tuesday, December 31st with a 4:00 pm CST puck drop for the Manitoba Moose’s annual New Years Eve game.
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