At the 6:47 mark in the opening slate, Grand Rapids drew first. Directly off of the draw, Kannok Leipert let a shot rip toward the front of the net that ricocheted off Tralmaks and past Remi Poirier for the first goal of the season. Shortly after with 9:58 left in the frame, the Stars tied things up. Arttu Hyry received a pass from behind the net and sent a one-timer flying into the top left corner. 

Grand Rapids received a double minor at the 11:02 mark of the first. However, Sheldon Dries had the best attempt on Texas’ power play with a short-handed chance, and the squad ultimately killed off its only penalty of the contest. 

The second period was highlighted by a two-goal performance from Mazur. At the 5:23 mark, Tyler Angle sent a drop pass to the winger – who sniped the puck, letting it ring off of the right post and over the glove of Poirier, as the visitors reclaimed the 2-1 lead. With 8:02 left in the stanza, Grand Rapids received a power-play opportunity and Mazur shot a wrister from the high slot for the team’s third of the game. 

Texas came to fight in the third period, scoring two goals in the opening 5:41 of play. First, Matthew Seminoff picked up the puck in the neutral zone and scored from Cossa’s right side at 2:37. Three minutes and four seconds later, the Stars tied it with a slapshot from above the right circle courtesy of Antonio Stranges. 

With 3:04 remaining, Mazur polished off his night by tying his career high in points in a game and recording his first hat trick. The Jackson, Michigan, native cleaned up a loose puck in front of the net for the game-winning goal. Pulling Poirier with 1:26 worked to no avail for the home team, ultimately giving the Griffins their first road opening win since 2019 with a 4-3 victory. 

 

NOTES

Ian Mitchell, Kannok Leipert, Leonard, Tralmaks and Angle all logged their first points with Grand Rapids during their debuts. The Griffins won a road opener for the first time since 2019 in which they defeated the Rockford IceHogs, 8-5. In their last seven road openers, the team improved to 2-5-0-0. The last hat trick recorded by Grand Rapids was from Joe Snively on Dec. 28, 2024 at the Cleveland Monsters.

Box Score

Grand Rapids 1 2 1 – 4

Texas 1 0 2 – 3

1st Period-1, Grand Rapids, Tralmaks 1 (Kannok Leipert, Becher), 6:47. 2, Texas, Hyry 1 (Stranges, Kolyachonok), 10:02. Penalties-Lagesson Gr (double minor – high-sticking), 11:02.

2nd Period-3, Grand Rapids, Mazur 1 (Angle, Kannok Leipert), 5:23. 4, Grand Rapids, Mazur 2 (Leonard, Mitchell), 11:58 (PP). Penalties-Hughes Tex (interference), 11:31; Ertel Tex (slashing), 14:50.

3rd Period-5, Texas, Seminoff 1 (Scott, Ertel), 2:37. 6, Texas, Stranges 1 (Capobianco, Hyry), 5:41. 7, Grand Rapids, Mazur 3 (Dries, Lagesson), 16:56. Penalties-Lind Tex (slashing), 14:08.

Shots on Goal-Grand Rapids 6-12-10-28. Texas 14-7-14-35.

Power Play Opportunities-Grand Rapids 1 / 3; Texas 0 / 2.

Goalies-Grand Rapids, Cossa 1-0-0 (35 shots-32 saves). Texas, Poirier 0-1-0 (28 shots-24 saves).

A-6,023

Three Stars 

1. GR Mazur (hat trick); 2. TEX Stranges (goal, assist); 3. TEX Hyry (goal, assist)

Record/Next Game 

Grand Rapids: 1-0-0-0 (2 pts.) / Sat., Oct. 11 at Texas 8 p.m. EDT

Texas: 0-1-0-0 (0 pts.) / Sat., Oct. 11 at Texas 7 p.m. CDT

Photo by Texas Stars