St. John's beats Texas to even Calder Cup Finals

Goaltender Michael Hutchinson made 49 saves Monday to lead the St. John's IceCaps to a series-tying 2-1 victory against the Texas Stars in Game 2 of the Calder Cup Finals in Cedar Grove, Texas.

Hutchinson rebounded from a poor performance in Game 1 of the American Hockey League championship series one night earlier, when he allowed five goals on 22 shots. He was flawless after Blair Riley put the IceCaps ahead to stay by beating Cristopher Nilstorp 1:13 into the second period, 44 seconds after the Stars' Brendan Ranford had tied the game.

The IceCaps, the top affiliate of the Winnipeg Jets, host Game 3 of the best-of-7 series Wednesday.

Texas, the top affiliate of the Dallas Stars, outshot St. John's 16-9 in the opening period but trailed 1-0 at intermission on a goal by Kael Mouillierat 4:05 into the game.

Ranford tied the game 29 seconds into the second period, but Riley put St. John's ahead to stay at 1:13 with his second goal of the playoffs. Hutchinson stopped 13 of the 14 shots he faced in the second period and was perfect in the third, when the Stars outshot the IceCaps 20-8.

Nilstorp, who stopped 26 shots to win Game 1, finished with 33 saves.