CEDAR PARK, TX -- Ryan Garbutt scored the hat trick to lead the Texas Stars to a 6-3 come-from-behind win over the Milwaukee Admirals Wednesday night in Cedar Park, TX.
Garbutt’s first goal came at 10:53 of the second period to make the score 3-2. His second came at :59 of the third period. He added an empty-netter with 1:47 remaining in game.
The Stars scored the last six goals of the game to snap a five game winless skid. The Admirals two game winning streak was snapped with the loss.
Milwaukee had a 3-0 lead after the first period. The first goal happened when Kyle Wilson intercepted a clearing attempt on the right wing boards in Texas’ zone. Wilson swooped from the right corner to the front of the net. His first shot was stopped by goalie Andrew Raycroft, but the rebound came right back to Wilson who tucked it into the net for his 12th goal of the season at 5:12 of the first period.
The Admirals claimed a 2-0 lead at 11:08 of the first period. Breaking out of the zone, defenseman Teemu Laakso fed Jani Lajunen on the right wing. Lajunen skated across the ice to the left circle in the Texas zone where he fired a shot. Raycroft kicked out a big rebound and Zack Stortini, skating hard to the net, buried the rebound for his seventh goal of the season.
A 5-on-3 goal gave the Admirals a 3-0 lead at 13:27 of the first period. With penalties to Texas forward Mathieu Tousignant and goalie Raycroft, the Admirals needed just 16 seconds to convert. Victor Bartley fed the puck to Wilson at the bottom of the right circle. Wilson threaded a pass to Chris Mueller at the left post. Mueller slapped the puck in for his 21st goal of the season, eighth on the power play. Oddly enough, Raycroft was assessed another penalty on the goal, meaning Milwaukee had a subsequent 1:44 of 5-on-3 power play time due to a pair of penalties on the goalie.
The three-goal first period was Milwaukee’s first since Dec. 11 against Rockford. It was also Milwaukee’s first 3-0 lead since Jan. 6 against Lake Erie.
Things changed after that.
Texas got on the board at 6:04 of the second period. After an Admirals turnover, Stars defenseman Brad Lukowich fed the puck to Scott Glennie on the right wing. On a 3-on-2 rush, Glennie completed a cross-ice pass to Colton Sceviour, who buried the shot from the left circle.
The Stars climbed within one goal when Garbutt finished a 2-on-1 with a shot from the right circle that eluded Smith at 10:53 of the second period.
Garbutt’s second goal at :59 of the third period tied the contest.
Stars rookie Matt Fraser scored the game-winner when he skated behind the Admirals defense and scored a breakaway goal, his 22nd goal of the season, at 11:41 of the third period.
Scott Glennie made it 5-3 when he knocked a rebound of a Sceviour shot out of mid-air at 13:15.
Garbutt added the empty-netter to close the scoring.
Milwaukee returns to the Bradley Center Friday, Feb. 10 to host Charlotte at 7 pm. The UW-Madison Badger Band will perform that night, presented by Reinhart Partners.