Stars’ Home Win Streak Snapped by Reign in 4-1 Loss

The Texas Stars saw their impressive six-game home winning streak come to an end Wednesday night, falling 4-1 to the Ontario Reign at the H-E-B Center. Despite a determined effort, the Stars couldn’t overcome the Reign’s tenacious play.

“We played hard and we pushed back,” said Head Coach Neil Graham. “They’re a heavy team, much like their parent club. I like being in these kind of matchups. It’s good for our group to be in tight, tough, hard, checking games and now we can learn.”

The first period remained scoreless, a testament to both teams’ defensive efforts and solid goaltending. However, the deadlock broke early in the second, as Ontario’s Taylor Ward found the back of the net just 1:13 in, beating Stars goaltender Magnus Hellberg with a shot from the point that banked off the post and in. Despite the Stars registering 18 shots on goal through the first two periods, Reign netminder Pheonix Copley turned them all away, frustrating Texas’s offensive efforts.

With under six minutes remaining in regulation, the Reign extended their lead on the power play. Caleb Jones set up Jeff Malott, who ripped a shot past Hellberg’s glove to make it 2-0. The Stars responded quickly, with Justin Hryckowianscoring their lone goal just 19 seconds later, wrapping the puck around the net and tucking it past Copley.

However, Hryckowian’s goal wasn’t enough to spark a full comeback. As Texas pulled Hellberg for an extra attacker in a desperate late-game push, the Reign capitalized with two empty-net goals, first from Jones and then from Glenn Gawdin, to seal their 4-1 victory. Hellberg finished the night with 17 saves on 19 shots, while Copley was stellar, stopping 30 of 31 shots for Ontario.