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Rampage fall 3-2 in OT at Texas Stars

October 3, 2009 - American Hockey League (AHL) San Antonio Rampage

CEDAR PARK, Texas - A night after defeating the Texas Stars by a 3-2 score at the AT&T Center, the Rampage fell to the Stars by a 3-2 score in overtime in front of 6,221 spectators in the first AHL regular season contest at the brand new Cedar Park Center.

The first period began with fast paced, back and forth play. Shortly after Rampage center Kyle Turris fired a shot off the crossbar, Texas opened the scoring with a power-play goal 12:16 after the initial faceoff. While San Antonio defenseman Mark Mitera was whistled for an interference penalty, Texas right wing Tyler Shelast utilized the wider passing lanes provided by the man advantage and found Stars defenseman Ivan Vishnevskiy just inside the blueline. Vishnevskiy then quickly fired the puck low to the blocker side past Rampage goaltender Al Montoya. Texas center Kevin Devergilio was also credited with an assist on the first regular season goal in Cedar Park Center history.

A few minutes later, both teams found themselves skating with four players apiece after each team had men in their respective penalty boxes serving non-coincidental penalties. The Rampage quickly took advantage of the extra room on the ice, connecting on multiple passes down low in the Stars zone until San Antonio left wing Stefan Meyer connected on a one-timer to Rampage center Joel Perrault. Perrault's shot was blocked by Stars netminder Matt Climie, leaving a rebound waiting for San Antonio defenseman Shaun Heshka, who skated down to the slot and quickly beat Climie to even the score at 1-1.

The Stars would break the tie a few minutes later after a San Antonio turnover at the Texas blueline was intercepted by Stars defenseman Garrett Stafford, who promptly forwarded the puck to Texas right wing Colton Sceviour in the neutral zone, leading to a two-on-one odd-man rush down the ice. Sceviour then found center Perttu Lindgren at the San Antonio blueline. Lindgren entered the Rampage zone with speed, drove down the left side of the slot around a San Antonio defenseman, faked Montoya to the right and fired the puck into the left side of the net to provide Texas with the lead at the 16:51 mark of the first period.

Following a scoreless second period, the Rampage emerged from the dressing room in the third looking to tie the game and would eventually do so with less than four minutes remaining in the game, when San Antonio left wing Viktor Tikhonov gained control of the puck and sent a neutral zone pass to Rampage defenseman David Schlemko. Schlemko then drove into right side of Texas zone and sent a crossing pass through the stick of a Stars defenseman to Kevin Porter. Porter then skated down the left side past a Texas defenseman to receive the pass and immediately beat Climie high to the stick side to tie the game at two goals apiece at the 17:33 mark of the final period. Neither team was able to score in the closing minutes, thus rewarding each team with a point in AHL league standings and sending the game to overtime.

In the overtime period, Texas would earn its first victory in franchise history on a goal by center Greg Rallo with 15 seconds left in the extra session. After the Stars established control of the puck deep in San Antonio's zone, Texas center Travis Morin sent a pass from the right corner to defenseman Brad Lukowich, who redirected the puck to the front of the net where Rallo was waiting to tap the puck into the goal and seal the victory.

San Antonio outshot Texas by a 36-31 margin in the game and Montoya made 28 saves in the loss.

The Rampage continue their five-game road trip next Friday, October 9 when they travel to Abbotsford, British Columbia to take on the Abbotsford Heat in a 9:30 p.m. matchup. Coincidentally the Rampage will also open the Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre for the Heat's regular season home debut. The Rampage will return to the AT&T Center on Saturday, October 17th when they host the Grand Rapids Griffins at 7:30 p.m.

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American Hockey League Stories from October 3, 2009


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