Texas Stars split first two games of opening-round playoff series

CEDAR PARK, Texas --The Texas Stars made a strong, late-season push to secure home-ice advantage in the first round of the Calder Cup Playoffs, but they surrendered it after splitting the first two games of their series against Ontario in Cedar Park.
The Stars won the series opener, which was a back-and-forth affair, 4-3, in overtime Thursday night. But Ontario pushed back in Game 2 on Friday, the Stars couldn't cash in on their chances, and the Reign tied the series 1-1 with a 5-1 win.
The Pacific Division Semifinal series, which is a best-of-five, now shifts to California for Games 3 and 4.

"We play again Sunday, and we have to be the urgent team. It's a best-of-three now," said Texas coach Derek Laxdal. "They've got home ice, and we've got to go in there and win one or two."

Game 1: Texas 4, Ontario 3 (OT)

The Stars found themselves in familiar territory in Game 1 of the series Thursday night -- overtime. Texas went beyond regulation in 28 of its 76 regular season games, and they needed overtime to take down Ontario on Thursday night. Brian Flynn scored 1:55 into the extra period to give the Stars a 4-3 victory and a 1-0 series lead.
"We talked about [overtimes] in between periods," said Texas coach Derek Laxdal. "The only difference is that it is 5-on-5 and not 3-on-3. It was a hard-fought game, a typical playoff game and a battle right to the end."
"That's playoff hockey," said Texas center Jason Dickinson. "I wouldn't expect anything else than us taking it to overtime. It's just what we've done all year. We've got no quit in our group, and we don't seem to be fazed by the pressure."
Mike McKenna stopped 41 shots for Texas while Sheldon Dries, Denis Gurianov, and Travis Morin also scored goals. Roope Hintz had two assists.
Hintz and Gurianov, two of Dallas' top prospects, helped set up Flynn's game-winner, turning an offensive zone faceoff loss into a win and then a game-winning goal.
"I lost a faceoff dead clean, and Roope jumped on it and somehow got a tie-up, Denis jumped in, and they did a good job getting the puck to the net," said Flynn. "I just found a quiet spot and was fortunate to get a bounce right to me."
Hintz and Gurianov also teamed up on a big goal in the third period that tied the game 2-2. With the two on the rush, Hintz set up Gurianov who scored off a one-timer at 8:34 of the third.
"You look at Denny's goal with Roope, that's an NHL goal," said Laxdal. "That's just speed through the neutral zone and then kicking a pass out with a one-timer."
The Stars got off to a good start, taking a 1-0 lead into the game on a goal by Dries at 3:17 of the first. But Ontario pushed back with a strong second period and took a 2-1 lead on goals by Justin Auger and Jonny Brodzinski.
After Gurianov had tied the game at 2-2 in the third, Morin gave the Stars a 3-2 lead with 6:38 remaining. But the Reign rallied to tie. With goaltender Cal Petersen out of the net for an extra attacker, Matt Moulson tied the game with 1:16 remaining to send the game to overtime where Flynn -- with some help from Hintz and Gurianov -- would win it for Texas.

Game 2: Ontario 5, Texas 1

There wasn't a lot of drama in Game 2 on Friday. Ontario scored two quick goals late in the first period and never looked back, skating away with a 5-1 victory.
Brian Flynn scored the lone goal for Texas and goaltender Mike McKenna stopped 27 of 31 shots.
The Stars had their chances in the game but not much luck in cracking Ontario goaltender Cal Petersen who stopped 28 of 29 shots. Texas went 1-6 on the power play, and the one goal came late in the third with the Stars already down 3-0.
"We had our looks," Texas captain Curtis McKenzie said. "Their goalie played really well. At the end of the day we knew they were going to be a desperate team and we needed more urgency coming out of the gate."
After getting no power play chances in Game 1 of the series, the Stars got two in the first period but couldn't cash in. Ontario went on a power play late in the first, and Philippe Maillet tallied to stake the Reign to a 1-0 lead at the 16:33 mark. Less than three minutes later, Matt Luff scored to push the Ontario lead to 2-0 with 28 seconds left in the period.
"The second goal at the end of the period really stung," said Texas coach Derek Laxdal. "We were chasing the game from there."
The Stars played well in the second, outshooting the Reign 16-9 and holding an 8-2 advantage in scoring chances, but Ontario scored the only goal. After the Reign won the race for a loose puck in the Texas zone, T.J. Hensick scored to push the Ontario lead to 3-0.
Texas finally broke through with 5:33 left in the third when Flynn scored on the power play to cut the lead to 3-1. But Malliet scored 48 seconds later to make it a 4-1 game. Defenseman Oscar Fatenberg added an empty-net goal to make it a 5-1 final.
"When you look at the overall game, you can tell they wanted it more than we did. They were going to respond, and we talked about it," Laxdal said. "Give them credit, they got a split which is what they wanted. Now, we've got to go into their building and try to get the first one."

Notes

Texas Lineup

Here are the lines and defense pairs Texas used in the first two games of the series. The lines were juggled from the first game to the second. The defense pairs stayed the same.
Game 1 lines
Travis Morin - Justin Dowling - Joel L'Esperance
Curtis McKenzie - Jason Dickinson - Brian Flynn
Remi Elie - Roope Hintz - Denis Gurianov
Samuel Laberge - Sheldon Dries - Colin Markison

Game 2 lines
Travis Morin - Justin Dowling - Curtis McKenzie
Jason Dickinson - Sheldon Dries - Remi Elie
Denis Gurianov - Roope Hintz - Brian Flynn
Samuel Laberge - Joel L'Esperance - Colin Markison
Defensive pairings/goaltenders
Dillon Heatherington - Brent Regner
Andrew Bodnarchuk - Matt Mangene
Gavin Bayreuther - Reece Scarlett
Mike McKenna
Landon Bow

Pacific Division Semifinal Schedule (Series tied 1-1)

Game 1 - Thursday, Apr. 19 - at Texas: Stars 4, Reign 3 (OT)
Game 2 - Friday, Apr. 20 - at Texas: Reign 5, Stars 1
Game 3 - Sunday, Apr. 22 - Texas at Ontario, 5 p.m. CST
Game 4 - Tuesday, Apr. 24 - Texas at Ontario, 9 p.m. CST
Game 5 -Monday, Apr. 30 - Ontario at Texas, 7 p.m. CST*
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This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mark Stepneski is an independent writer whose posts on DallasStars.com reflect his own opinions and do not represent official statements from the Dallas Stars. You can follow him on Twitter @StarsInsideEdge.*