CEDAR PARK, Texas – Tuesday night, the visiting Rockford Icehogs defeated the Texas Stars 4-3, extending their win streak to seven games and tying them for third in the Central division.
The Icehogs got on the board first at 18:37 in the first period when Brett Seney found a wide-open Rem Pitlick at the top of the crease who, then put a shot high blocker side past Stars goaltender Matt Murray.
The Stars would tie the game 1-1 less than 5 minutes into the second period when Stars captain Curtis McKenzie deflected a shot from Derrick Pouliot past goaltender Jaxson Stauber. Rockford would regain the lead when Ryder Rolston beat Murray with a wrist shot from the high slot, making it 2-1. Rockford made it 3-1 four minutes later when Colton Dach dangled past Stars defenseman Michael Karow and slid the puck five-hole past Murray.
In the third period, Rockford added to their lead once again on a controversial goal when Ethan Del Mastro appeared to have played a puck with a high stick and batted it to teammate Jalen Luypen for an empty net goal. Fredrik Karlstrom would bring the Stars within 2 goals when he scored shorthanded on a breakaway making it 4-2. Oskar Back would make things interesting when he scored with just 18 seconds remaining in the third period cutting Rockford’s lead to just 1 goal. Despite a great effort in the remaining seconds of the game the Stars were ultimately not able to tie the game and fell to the IceHogs 4-3.
Check out this photo gallery from Inside The Rink’s Rick Crossman for highlights from the game.
