The Texas Stars found out they would be taking on the Abbotsford Canucks in the Calder Cup Western Conference Finals. The Canucks have one of the best all-around teams in the Western Conference. The Stars realized that if they wanted to make the Calder Cup Finals, it was going to be a tricky task to get past the Canucks. Let's look at the first two games and see how the Texas Stars did last week in the latest AHL Report.
In Game 1 on Thursday, Texas started strong and aggressive on offense. Kole Lind scored 9 minutes into the game, and Texas was looking to continue the momentum into the second period. Unfortunately, Abbotsford scored with 1:04 left in the period to send Texas into the intermission tied 1-1. In the second period, Abbotsford followed up with another goal 6 minutes into the period, but Antonio Stranges scored his first goal of the playoffs off a great rush chance where he got his rebound.
The game was extremely shot-heavy yet tight, and Game 1 went to overtime, where Abbotsford’s Christian Wolanin scored roughly 6 minutes in. It was a tough way to go, with Remi Poirier stopping 43 of 46 shots in the loss, but it was a fair start to the series from Texas’s perspective, with minor adjustments needed.
In Game 2 on Saturday, the game tightened up even more between the two teams, with a physical, rivalry-esque playoff matchup. No goals were scored through the first two periods, yet Texas was close multiple times if not for Abbotsford goalie Arturs Silovs. Silovs has been one of the main reasons for Abbotsford’s success all playoffs long, and showed up in Game 2, stopping everything sent his way. Ultimately, Abbotsford ended up winning 1-0, but it was more complicated than that.
Texas tied the game with 2:46 left, and the ref on the ice had signalled a "goal". The goal came from a “net-mouth scramble” where Curtis McKenzie (among others) crashed the net and scored, but Arturs Silovs was furious, which prompted a lengthy discussion among the officials. Without reviewing the play, the officials concluded that Silovs’ pad was pushed into the net, calling it “no-goal” despite an on-ice call of “goal”. With only 2:46 left in the game, this was a critical moment, and it hurt Texas badly.
The team was emotional, and after the buzzer went, Kole Lind approached Silovs, effectively leading to a line brawl (lots of shoves and pushes).
Texas is now down 2-0 in the series, and I’m not sure how the AHL review system works, but for Texas to go from an official goal to a no-goal from a discussion is unfortunate. It’s possible they could challenge the play and were convinced it was a no-goal by the refs’ explanations, but I’m not sure about the ruleset there.
Looking ahead, the next three games are in Texas, and Alex Petrovic returns to the club after playing for Dallas in the NHL playoffs, so there are reasons to be optimistic.
Player of the week: Remi Poirier
Week Stats:
GP | GAA | SV% | SO |
|---|---|---|---|
2 | 1.93 | 0.947 | 0 |
Playoff Stats:
GP | GAA | SV% | SO |
|---|---|---|---|
8 | 1.89 | 0.933 | 1 |
Overall, Texas has been out-goalied by Arturs Silovs and will have to find a way over the next few games at home to get goals past the AHL’s top playoff netminder per GAA and SV% stats. Texas has averaged 32 shots per game, while Abbotsford has averaged nearly 38. While Texas can sometimes handle being out-shot against tough teams, they must focus on preventing the opposing offense from getting good shots on Poirier since Silovs has been so strong at the other end. There will be little room for error over the next few games, where a bad penalty, missed chance, or botched defensive coverage could end Texas’s season with only 2 lives remaining.
Week ahead:
- Game 3: Mon Jun 2 vs. Abbotsford
- Game 4: Wed Jun 4 vs. Abbotsford
- (if necessary) Game 5: Fri Jun 6 vs. Abbotsford
- (if necessary) Game 6: Sun Jun 8 @ Abbotsford