The Texas Stars' power play lit up the Abbotsford Heat like a Christmas tree on Sunday evening.
The Heat, playing their third road game in three nights, led 3-1 midway through the second period, but ran out of gas at that point. The Stars responded with eight unanswered goals – including five with the man advantage – en route to a 9-3 victory.
Texas finished 5-for-8 on the power play compared to 0-for-3 for Abbotsford, and boasted a 42-23 edge in shots.
Abbotsford goalie Laurent Brossoit was making his first career AHL start, and his teammates staked him to an early lead. Tyler Wotherspoon, with his first-ever professional goal, and Greg Nemisz tallied in the first period, and Chad Billins scored at 8:23 of the second.
But the Stars owned the balance of the contest, led by the top line of Colton Sceviour, Travis Morin and Curtis McKenzie. The trio combined for 12 points, highlighted by Sceviour's three-goal, two-assist outing.
Brossoit stopped 33 of 42 shots, while Cristopher Nilstorp turned aside 20 of 23.
ICE CHIPS:
• The Calgary Flames recalled forward Roman Horak and defenceman Chris Breen on Sunday morning, and reassigned forward Blair Jones and blueliner Derek Smith to the AHL affiliate. Neither Jones or Smith were available for Sunday's game, though.
• The Stars' big night on the power play boosted them into second place in the AHL in man-advantage efficiency at 30.3 per cent. The Heat, meanwhile, sank to 27th out of 30 teams on the penalty kill at 72.2 per cent.
• The Heat return home for a pair of games vs. the Lake Erie Monsters on Friday and Saturday (7 p.m. both nights, Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre).