The score wasn’t the only thing tied up at the end of the second period between the Texas Stars and Ontario Reign. As each team headed to their locker rooms, words were exchanged, and it looked like fans were about to witness the second altercation of the night.
The Stars played through the tempers, scoring four unanswered goals in the third period and walking away with a 5–2 victory over the Ontario Reign. This snaps the Stars’ six-game losing streak.
“It’s huge,” Stars head coach Toby Petersen said. “Our guys have worked so hard these last several weeks trying to do everything they can to put themselves in position, and tonight they did that and stuck with it for the whole 60 minutes.”
While the Stars offense played a big role in the win, the defense stepped up in a big way, shutting down Ontario on power plays, going 0-6. Petersen said he was pleased with his team’s performance tonight.
“It’s never easy getting back into the win column,” Petersen said. “Our guys knew it was going to take an entire team effort.”
The strong offensive performance saw four Stars score, led by forward Artem Shlaine, who scored two goals. The offense scored at will in the third period, even turning two Ontario power plays into goals, an extremely rare occurrence in hockey.
Defenseman Connor Punnett capitalized on his first opportunity of the season for Texas, scoring a goal of his own.
“I just kind of play with the mindset of, ‘(I’ve) got nothing to lose,’” Punnett said. “Made some nice plays and was feeling the puck and just kind of took it away from there.”
The Stars capitalized on minimal shot attempts, scoring five goals on 19 shots, a 26% success rate.
Schlaine’s second and final Texas goal was too much for Ontario to handle, leading to an explosion of emotion after the final buzzer, giving fans a little extra entertainment.
In a game marked by major distractions and three separate fights, Petersen kept his group focused on the end goal.
“Anytime you have two teams that are trying to defend the house the way both of us were, there’s going to be some tempers flaring,” Petersen said. “It provides a spark, and I’m happy with the way the guys try to stay on the discipline side of the action and just focus on getting the W.”
Texas will try to carry this momentum after a 1–6 start and will begin with a road trip to Chicago against a Wolves team the Stars beat convincingly last year. The Stars finished the season 9–1 against the Wolves, including a playoff series victory last season.
Texas will play its next game on Halloween night, October 31, at 7 p.m. CT in Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois.
