The San Diego Gulls will try to take a two games to none lead Saturday when their Calder Cup Playoffs Pacific Division Semifinal Series against the Texas Stars continues in Cedar Park, Texas.
The Gulls won the opener of the best-of-five series Thursday, 3-1, as Anton Khudobin made 28 saves and Nick Ritchie scored the tie-breaking goal in the second period.
Mike Sgarbossa and Ritchie teamed up to pressure the puck deep in the Texas zone.
Sgarbossa sprung the puck free at the end line and fed Ritchie in the right faceoff circle.Ritchie put a shot past Stars goaltender Maxime Legace with four minutes, two seconds left in the second period.
Chris Mueller put a backhanded shot past Legace with 9:04 left for an insurance goal before a crowd announced at 3,847 at the Cedar Park Center.
Texas, the Dallas Stars American Hockey League affiliate, pulled Legace for an extra attacker with 2:45 left, but were unable to score.
The Stars tied the score on Justin Dowling’s shorthanded goal 39 seconds into the second period.
Gulls center Antoine Laganiere opened the scoring 15 minutes into the first period, stealing the puck from Texas defenseman Julius Honka and putting a forehand shot by Legace.
Legace made 14 saves.
The Gulls, the Anaheim Ducks AHL affiliate, killed all four of the Stars’ power-play opportunities, but were held scoreless on both of their power plays.
The final three games of the series, if necessary, will be played at Valley View Casino Center, beginning with Game 3 Thursday.
—City News Service