Payback: Stars put out the Heat in OT thriller

Something was different tonight.  The previously night the Texas Stars blew a 4-1 lead and ultimately lost to the Stockton Heat 5-4.  Tonight the Stars didn’t play their normal soccer ball knock-around.  The trainer didn’t come out to the ice for the pre-game warm-up.  And the coaches left the locker room early before the start of each period.  For a team whose culture is immersed in routine and superstition, this felt weird.  

Or maybe it was just what the Stars needed.  

The first period was a well played draw by both teams.  The Stars started the scoring at 9:05 with the only goal of the first period by Stransky. 

As tight a contest was the first period, the second period made up for it in a back and forth scoring affair.  Stockton tied the game at 2:25 of the second period on a goal by Kylington.  Followed by a goal by Texas (Mangene), then by Stockton (Wotherspoons), then by Texas (McMurtry), then by Stockton (Angelidis) than by Texas (DeFazio).  Texas took a 4-3 lead into the locker room at the end of the second period. 

The stingy scoring of the first period returned in the third period.  Texas held off Stockton until 14:46 of the period when Mangiapane scored to tie the game, bringing out feelings of déjà vu.  Regulation play ended in a 4-4 draw. 

The five-minute overtime period was scoreless, forcing a shoot-out.  The shoot-out went to five rounds until Gemel Smith broke the tied and bring home the win!