The Manitoba Moose’s four-game win streak came to an end Wednesday night in a tight 2-1 loss to the Texas Stars at H-E-B Center, one night after Manitoba had beaten Texas 3-2 in a shootout.
Special teams shaped the night from the start. Texas spent much of the first period in the penalty box, taking five minors, but the Moose couldn’t turn the power play chances into a lead.
Manitoba put 10 shots on goal in the opening frame, and Nikita Chibrikov rang one off the post, yet Brandon Halverson kept the game scoreless through the intermission. The Moose still had 1:03 left on their fifth man-advantage when the period ended.
Manitoba finally broke through at 9:04 of the second. Danny Zhilkin got credit for the goal after a Texas faceoff win led to the puck caroming off a teammate’s skate and past an unsuspecting Halverson. It was Zhilkin’s fifth straight game with a point.
Texas answered quickly. Jack Becker finished a cross-ice feed from Dylan Hrycowian with a bar-down shot just 1:40 later to make it 1-1, and the Stars grabbed the lead for good at 14:09 when Artem Shlaine batted a puck out of mid-air after Matthew Seminoff sent a shot off the end glass. Milic stopped 10 shots in the period, while Halverson turned aside nine.
The Moose kept pressing in the third, but the equalizer never came. They managed six shots in the final period and had a couple of dangerous looks, including iron from both Chibrikov and Brad Lambert. A loose puck also slid through the slot untouched in the closing seconds, but Texas held on and killed off seven penalties overall to secure the win.
“Thought it was kinda a back-and-forth game, a lot of special teams. Just came out on the short side of it tonight, but I thought we had a good effort.”
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