Barons Take Down Stars

The Oklahoma City Barons got a late-third period goal from newcomer C.J. Stretch to defeat the Texas Stars 3-2 Tuesday evening at the Cox Convention Center.

With the win, Oklahoma City (25-20-2-5) now has a standing point in nine of the last 13 games, going 7-4-0-2 in that frame. The Barons moved to 6-3-0-1 against the Stars (33-14-4-4) this year.

Oklahoma City had a prime scoring chance as Philippe Cornet's shot was turned away by a big pad save from Stars goaltender Jack Campbell. The physicality of the period continued and the Barons capitalized on a delayed penalty call late in the first period.

Brett Clark put home a Philippe Cornet centering pass to give Oklahoma City a 1-0 lead at 15:10. Mark Arcobello earned the secondary assist as the Barons finally broke through after pressuring Texas for much of the period. The Barons held a 7-6 lead in shots at the first intermission.

The second period started with each team registering three shots on goal and the physicality picked up as Andrew Hotham and Bretton Cameron got tangled up along the boards and dropped the gloves at 12:30. The Stars got the equalizer at 15:59 as Colton Sceviour found the back of the net to even the score at 1-1.

Oklahoma City regained the lead at 17:35 as Tanner House redirected a Randy Jones shot to put the Barons back in front 2-1. Toni Rajala earned the secondary assist after a crisp cross-ice pass to Jones. Oklahoma City held a 15-11 lead in shots after the second period.

The third period saw the Stars pull almost even in shots, but the Barons defense including starting goaltender Yann Danis stood tall. Oklahoma City got several chances but just could not get the puck past Campbell until late in the period.

The Barons got a two-on-one with Josh Green and newcomer Stretch and Stretch tipped the puck past Campbell to give Oklahoma City a 3-1 lead at 17:06. The goal was the first for Stretch in his first AHL game.

The Stars cut the lead to 3-2 late as William Wrenn also added his first career AHL goal at 19:27. The win extended the Barons' home win streak to five straight games and snapped Texas' five-game win streak.

The Barons return to action Saturday evening against the Stars with a 7 p.m. start at the Cedar Park Center.