The O'Reilly line started the game for Milwaukee. Statsney and Gross on D and Askarov in goal.
The Ads dominated the first 6 minutes of the game, but only led in SOG 3-0. They had problems getting the puck on net against goalie Matthew Murray. They kept shooting the puck and stopped numerous Stars breakouts to end the period 17-3 in SOG. Texas took a slashing minor with just under 2 minutes to go in period one. The Ads PP had a few shots, but did not score. Murray used his right arm to swipe the puck away from the goal line on the power play. That was his Save of the Game. The only tough one that he had to make.
Jordan Gross was called for tripping during the last minute of play. Gross played the puck at the offensive blueline, trying to hold it in. The Texas player went down and the call was made, even if I didn't agree with it. It was 4-on-4 and the Ads were a little lazy on defense and allowed a goal with 0.5 seconds remaining in the period.
Period 2 was more even, with Texas leading in SOG 9-5. Milwaukee scored at 19:31 with a goal by McKeown (1) with assists to Jankowski (1) and Gurianov (1). Once again, a late goal by the team that did not dominate the period, to make it 1-1.
Period 3 opened with a crosschecking penalty on Jordan Gross that was killed off. Texas was whistled for a minor for crosschecking by Alexander Petrovic. First, Petrovic hit O'Reilly behind the Texas net, then he absolutely clobbered another Admirals player just 6 feet away. Petrovic argued the call all of the way to the box, but it was a good call. The Ads PP converted. Dennis Gurianov (2) took the initial shot which rebounded away down the left goal line away from Murray. Egor Afanasyev (1) was there and he fired the puck back at the goal. It went 5-hole on Murray, who then kicked the puck into the net with his right heel of his skate blade. Texas argued that goal plenty, but you could see that Murray kicked it into his own net clearly on 2 of the 3 replays that were shown. Anthony Angello (1) was also given an assist. Maybe he passed the puck to Dennis?
At 8:14, Angello was called for roughing. On the replay, a Texas player caught him with an elbow to the face as he was going to check the player, but the refs only caught the retaliation. Earlier, Askarov had played the puck behind the net and was hit late and from behind by a Texas player and no call was made. The Ads killed the penalty. About 3 minutes later, Star Nicholas Caamano boarded Jake Livingstone on the end boards by the Ads net. Livingstone crumped up on the ice and the penalty was never called. One Admiral hit Caamano high from the front and Zach L'Heureux hit him high from the rear and probably gave him a concussion. L'Heureux was given a Major for Crosschecking (served by Mutter) and a Gamer at 11:31. This was the turning point of the game. The Ads held the Stars off for 3.5 minutes, then were caught tired and out of position on the ice for the tying goal by Logan Stankoven for his second goal of the game. The game looked like it was headed to OT when Texas scored with 20 seconds remaining. The Ads tried to tie up the game by pulling Askarov and came close a few times, but lost 3-2.
What I learned from the game. Reid Schaefer (#49) is an offensive machine. He is aggressive and frequently came up with the puck in the Neutral Zone. Fedor Svechkov (#40) is similar. Kemell (#25) was watched closely by the Texas Stars. They were always grabbing at him during the entire game. He smashed a few Stars with checks trying to make some space out there. He was pulled down from behind in Period 2 when driving to the net. It should have been a penalty. My daughter thought that it should have been a penalty shot. It did not get called.
Ref Ratings: Peter Tarnaris (#17) was in mid-season form. He called some ticky-tac penalties and let other, more serious infractions go. Jarrod Ragusin (#2). What can I say about the Big Ragu and not get sued ? Not much. He was similar to Tarnaris. They both get fours out of ten.
Linespersons: Greg Offerman (#91) and T. J, Lyle (#88). they both did a stellar job and get nines.
The Texas defense is poor at getting the puck out of their D-zone. The crowd of 6500 went home disappointed. The Ads deserved at least one point from this game.
Stars of the Game: Stankoven,
Afanasyev and Murray.