Coming into the Calder Cup Playoffs this spring, the Texas Stars had not won a postseason game since June 12, 2018, when they beat Toronto to force a Game 7 of the Calder Cup Finals.
Much like that 2018 club, this year’s Stars are a well-structured group that never stops battling. On Friday night, in their 2023 postseason opener, Texas fell behind Rockford 3-2 early in the third period but kept pushing. Scott Reedy, an NHL trade deadline acquisition from San Jose, evened the game with 12:44 to play. Then Nick Caamano, whose season was delayed more than three months by injury, followed with 3:38 to go to put the Stars ahead to stay.
Head coach Neil Graham was pleased with how his club handled a 12-day break following its regular-season finale April 16.
“It was an important win,” Graham said via the team at practice on Saturday. “Any time you can steal a game in your opponent’s building, especially Game 1, it’s an important start for our group.”
For the 24-year-old Caamano, it has been a long road back. He had played a combined 36 games for the parent Dallas Stars in the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons and shown signs that he could break into the NHL club’s lineup on full-time basis.
Caamano made his 2022-23 debut on Jan. 22 and finished with two goals and nine assists in 29 games with Texas. He called Friday’s game-winning goal “extra-rewarding.”
“You put in those countless hours of rehab that no one really sees,” Caamano said, “so it’s kind of nice that it’s paying off. [We] just want to keep it rolling.”
The Central Division champion Stars elected to begin this series with two games in Rockford before taking it back to Cedar Park for as many as three games. Grabbing the Game 1 win puts the IceHogs in a difficult position going into Game 2 this afternoon at BMO Center.
“We did our jobs,” Graham said. “We liked a lot of our game. There are a couple areas we wanted to address and clean up, and now it’s about trying to regroup and stay present for Game 2. Whether it’s in our building or your opponent’s building, you’ve got to play the game in front of you.”
Milwaukee Admirals defenseman Jordan Gross has shown before that he can key an offense.
Gross, after all, won the Eddie Shore Award last season with the Colorado Eagles before coming to the Nashville Predators organization as an offseason signing. Gross produced an eye-popping 55 assists and 65 points in 61 games with the Eagles in 2021-22; this season in Milwaukee he had 38 points (10 goals, 28 assists) in 53 games to go with three goals in 15 games on recall to Nashville.
Gross showed some of that potency Friday night in Game 1 of the Admirals’ Central Division semifinal series at Manitoba. With Milwaukee holding a 3-1 lead, Gross scored two goals and assisted on an Austin Rueschhoff tally, all in a span of 4:08 as the Admirals blew the game open and went on to a 6-2 win. Now they have a chance to put the Moose in a real bind this afternoon in Game 2 before the series shifts to Milwaukee.
The Admirals had the AHL’s top power play in the regular season at 24.6 percent and went 2-for-3 in Game 1, including Gross’s 5-on-3 tally. They had seven power-play shots as well.
“We have a lot of skill on both units,” Gross said via the Admirals website after practice Saturday at Canada Life Centre. “I think just the shoot-first mentality and getting the rebounds, getting the recoveries back, the quick attacks… I think that’s been a big focus for us.”
― Patrick Williams
