CEDAR PARK, Texas. – Friday night, the Texas Stars defeated the visiting Grand Rapids Griffins 5-4 in double overtime. With the win, the Stars advance to the Central Division Finals to take on the Milwaukee Admirals.
Kole Lind put the Stars on the board first, just 3:36 into the first period, when an Arttu Hyru shot rebounded off the pads of Sebastian Cossa to the slot, where Lind shot it off the bounce, giving the Stars a 1-0 lead. Michael Brandsegg-Nyggard tied the game 1-1 late in the first period, with a one-timer from the right wing circle.
The Griffins dominated the second period with three straight goals from Nate Danielson, Dominik Shine, and Amadeus Lombardi.
Cameron Hughes regained the momentum for the Stars with a big fight against Nate Danielson, 58 seconds into the third period. The fight seemed to have sparked both the team and fans as the Stars would go on to score three straight goals in the period to send the game to overtime. Matej Blümel kicked off the comeback when Hyru stole the puck from Cossa behind the Griffins’ net and passed it to a wide-open Blümel at the top of the crease, who tapped it into an empty net. Hughes brought the Stars to within 1 goal with a redirection through the legs of Cossa while on the power-play. Trey Taylor tied the game with his first professional goal when he buried a loose puck at the top of the crease, extending the game to overtime. After a scoreless first period of overtime, Hughes ended the series with a diving backhand shot that trickled under the left skate of Cossa.
Check out this photo gallery from Inside The Rink’s Rick Crossman for highlights from the game.
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