Texas survived a determined comeback attempt by Sugar Land on the way to a 3-1 win.
Texas made the score 3-0 on a goal by Mykyta Sheptytsky at 12:58 in the third period, and Sugar Land got as close as 3-1 when Matt DeNure scored 19:24 into the third period.
Sheptytsky was all over the ice for Texas, as he tallied two goals and one assist in the win. Sheptytsky scored the first of his two goals on the power play at 10:05 into the third period to make the score 2-0 Texas. Texas had taken the advantage when Sugar Land\’s Keegan Chesnick got sent off for checking from behind. Ryan Dunner provided the assist. Sheptytsky\’s next tally on the power play made the score 3-0 Texas with 7:02 left in the third period. Dunner picked up the assist.
Texas managed to stay out of the box better than usual, finishing with one minor for two minutes in penalty time. Texas wound up below its season average of 8.0 penalty minutes per game. Texas was ineffective while on the power play, as it was held to one goal off of nine man advantages.
Texas also got points from Dunner, who also racked up one goal and two assists. Other players who recorded assists for Texas were George Hansen, who had three.
Sugar Land was held below its usual level of production. Sugar Land puts an average of 4.0 pucks into the net per game. Sugar Land found itself stymied offensively, and got off a mere 12 shots against Texas\’ defense. Sugar Land\’s penalty killing units received substantial work throughout the game as Sugar Land finished with 28 penalty minutes.
In addition, Sugar Land received assists from RC Randall and Matt Cozzan, who each chipped in one.
Brandon Perrone made 11 saves for Texas on 12 shots. Kevin Mackey rejected 16 shots on goal for Sugar Land. Sugar Land registered zero goals on one power play opportunities.