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AHL Texas Stars

Game Day Preview - Texas at San Antonio

December 17, 2010 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Texas Stars News Release


Texas and San Antonio meet for the fifth time this season and 17th time in history. The two teams played a total of 12 times last year with the Stars taking the season series by posting an 8-4-0-0 mark against the Rampage. The Stars took the first three games of the season series this year before the Rampage claimed the last meeting on Dec. 3rd, posting a 2-1 shootout win in Cedar Park. Texas still has yet to lose in regulation to San Antonio this season. The two teams will meet a total of ten times this season. The Stars are 4-3-0-0 all-time at the AT&T Center, including three shutouts.

The Stars are 6-5-0-0 on the road this season and 5-3-1-1 in the last ten games. Texas has collected points in eight of the last ten games and 12 of the last 17. Texas has played the fewest road games in the AHL (11) and the most home games (18) in the league. The Stars are coming off a 3-1 loss at home to Manitoba on Tuesday. San Antonio is 11-4-0-0 at the AT&T Center this year and 7-3-0-0 in the last ten games played. The Rampage have taken five of their last six games. San Antonio is coming off a 5-4 shootout win over Manitoba last Saturday.

Through four games of the season series, Texas center Travis Morin leads all scorers with five points off two goals and three assists. Left wing Scott McCulloch has three goals and four points in two games against San Antonio. Texas forwards Francis Wathier and Greg Rallo, as well as defenseman Brad Lukowich, each have three points in the season series. San Antonio center Andrew Ebbett leads the Rampage with three assists in four games against the Stars. Six other Rampage skaters are tied for the team lead with two points each in the season series, including former Stars right wing Mathieu Beaudoin, who has two goals in four games against his former team. Texas goalie Richard Bachman is 1-0-1 with a 1.44 goals against average and a .942 save percentage. Former Texas goalie, Matt Climie is 1-3-0 with a 2.95 goals against average and a .908 save percentage against his former team.

Dallas Assigns Gagnon and Bachman to Texas, Texas Stars Assign LeMay to Allen

The Dallas Stars announced on Wednesday that the club has assigned goaltender Richard Bachman and center Aaron Gagnon to the Texas Stars, Dallas' primary affiliate in the American Hockey League (AHL). The Texas Stars also announced that the club has assigned goalie Adrien LeMay to the Allen Americans of the Central Hockey League (CHL).

Bachman, 23, made his NHL debut with Dallas on Dec. 11 at Phoenix. He played in nine minutes and made four saves with no goals against. The Salt Lake City native has spent the majority of this season with Texas, posting a 9-4-1 record with a 2.01 goals-against-average and a .931 save percentage. He was drafted by Dallas in the fourth round (120th overall) of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.

Gagnon, 24, has skated in five games for Dallas this season and recorded his first NHL point (assist) Dec. 6 at Columbus. He has played most of 2010-11 with Texas, appearing in 20 games and collecting nine points (5g, 4a) and six penalty minutes. The 5-11, 186-pound center led Texas in scoring in the club's inaugural season last year with 27 goals and 31 assists.

Adrien LeMay returns to Allen where he's played 11 games, going 8-2-0 with a 2.99 goals against average and a .905 save percentage. LeMay has yet to make his AHL debut.

Dallas Recalls Fistric, Assigns Fortunus

The Dallas Stars announced on Sunday that the club has recalled defenseman Mark Fistric from his conditioning assignment with the Texas Stars, Dallas' primary development affiliate in the American Hockey League (AHL). He will join Dallas in San Jose Sunday afternoon. The club also announced that defenseman Maxime Fortunus has been assigned to Texas.

Fistric, 24, was assigned to the Texas Stars for conditioning on Dec. 8. He appeared in three games for Texas, going scoreless with two penalty minutes. Fistric suffered a lower-body injury on Nov. 22 and missed seven games prior to the conditioning assignment. He has skated in 16 NHL games so far this season, accruing one assist and 20 penalty minutes. Last season he played in 67 games for Dallas, collecting one goal, nine assists and 10 points, all career highs. The Edmonton, Alberta, native posted a plus/minus rating of +27 last season, which ranked him 10th overall in the NHL and was the only player from a non-playoff team to be ranked in the top 35.

The 6-foot-3, 234-pound defenseman has skated in 156 career NHL games, all with Dallas, tallying 17 points (1g, 16a), 155 penalty minutes and a +28 plus/minus rating. Fistric was drafted by Dallas in the first round (28th overall) of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.

Fortunus, 27, was recalled by Dallas on Dec. 9, but did not appear in a game. He has played in 25 games for Texas so far this season, posting seven points (2g, 5a) and eight penalty minutes. Fortunus made his NHL debut last season with Dallas, appearing in eight games and accruing four penalty minutes. The La Prairie, Quebec, native, helped Texas reach the Calder Cup Finals in the 2009-10 season, tallying 23 points (11g, 12a) in 72 regular season games during the club's inaugural season.

What's Ahead:

DATE OPPONENT TIME TV/RADIO

Saturday, Dec. 18 vs. Hamilton 7:00 PM 104.9 FM

Monday, Dec. 20 vs. Oklahoma City 7:30 PM 104.9 FM

Sunday, Dec. 26 at Houston 4:05 PM 104.9 FM

* All times listed are local time

GAME RECAPS:

Manitoba 3 at Texas 1 12/14/10

The Texas Stars were defeated by the Manitoba Moose 3-1 in front of 4,220 fans on Tuesday night at Cedar Park Center. Manitoba goalie Eddie Lack (8-6-2) stopped 39 of 40 shots, including all 19 Texas shots in the third period to preserve the 3-1 victory. Manitoba center Marco Rosa scored 7:57 into the third period, breaking a 1-1 tie, as the Moose snapped a four-game winless skid. Stars right wing Greg Rallo scored the lone Texas goal in the first period. Texas goalie Tyler Beskorowany (2-4-0) stopped 30 of 32 shots for the loss.

Texas 2 at Grand Rapids 4 12/12/10

The Texas Stars were defeated by the Grand Rapids Griffins 4-2 in front of 3,373 fans on Sunday afternoon at Van Andel Arena. Grand Rapids forward Tomas Tatar scored at 14:03 of the third period, breaking a 2-2 tie and giving Griffins a lead they never surrendered. Despite 37 saves, Stars goalie Tyler Beskorowany (2-3-0) suffered the loss. Texas right wing Raymond Sawada scored in the defeat, extending his points streak to six straight games. Center Travis Morin netted his team-leading 12th goal of the year, as Texas finished its four-game road trip 2-2-0-0. Griffins goalie Joey MacDonald (5-3-1) stopped 22 shots in the loss.

Texas 3 at Milwaukee 2 OT 12/11/10

The Texas Stars defeated the Milwaukee Admirals 3-2 in overtime in front of 4,477 fans on Saturday night at the Bradley Center. Texas center Travis Morin slipped in a rebound 17 seconds into overtime, giving the Stars a dramatic win on the road. Texas goalie Tyler Beskorowany made 33 saves for his second straight win. Stars forward Sean Backman extended his points streak to five games with a goal, as Texas improved to 6-4-0-0 on the road this season. Forward Colton Sceviour also scored in the win, as Texas picked up its second straight win and the team's third victory in the last four contests. Admirals goalie Chet Pickard (1-4-1) carried a shutout into the third period, but was unable to hold on for the win with 31 saves.

The Texas Stars

After 29 games of action, center Travis Morin leads Texas in scoring with 12 goals and 26 points. Right wing Greg Rallo is second on the team in scoring with 18 points in 29 games played. Right wing Colton Sceviour and left wing Francis Wathier are ranked third on the club with 14 points each. Sceviour is tied for third on the team with ten assists. Wathier is tied for second in goals scored (9) and also tied for the team lead with five power-play goals. Dan Spang is fifth overall on the team and first among all defensemen with 13 points. Forwards Fabian Brunnstrom, Ray Sawada and Mathieu Tousignant are tied for sixth overall with 12 points each. Defenseman Brad Lukowich is second on the team with 11 assists. Tousignant is also second on the team with 43 penalty minutes, three behind Luke Gazdic's 46 penalty minutes.

Texas Stars goalies Richard Bachman and Tyler Beskorowany fill the net for Texas. Brent Krahn is currently out with an injury. Bachman has appeared in 16 games, going 9-4-1 with a 2.01 goals against average and a .931 save percentage. Bachman ranks fifth overall in the AHL for goals against average and seventh in save percentage. From Nov. 16 - Dec. 7, Bachman started 10 of 11 games before receiving a call up to Dallas. In his absence, Beskorowany started in five straight games, stopping 144 of 154 (.935 %) in his last four games. Overall, Beskorowany is 2-4-0 with a 3.36 goals against average and a .910 save percentage. Krahn has appeared in nine games, posting a 5-4-0 mark, a 2.93 goals against average and a .898 save percentage.

Shooting Stars

Center Travis Morin has a point in eight of his last nine games, including a point in four straight. Over the nine-game stretch, Morin has five goals and nine points. Right wing Raymond Sawada had his six-game point streak halted on Tuesday against Manitoba. Sawada has collected a point in eight of his last ten. Right wing Sean Backman had a five-game point streak snapped in Grand Rapids on Sunday. Over the span, the rookie scored three goals and dished out three assists for six points.

The San Antonio Rampage

San Antonio starts its first full season with Ray Edwards as head coach, who took over for Greg Ireland 18 games into last season. Edwards went on to post a 30-23-0-9 record in the final 62 games of the year. The Rampage returns 13 players from their 2009-10 squad.

Right wings Mathieu Beaudoin and Brett MacLean lead the Rampage in scoring with 27 points each. MacLean has a team-high 14 goals in 28 games played. Right wing Mathieu Beaudoin is second on the team in goals (12) and assists (15) in 27 games played. Left wing Mikkel Boedker is first on the club with 18 assists and third on the team with 25 points in 28 games played. Defenseman Garrett Stafford leads all Rampage defenders with 20 points in 22 games played. He is second on the team with 16 assists and he ranks tied for fourth among all AHL defenders.

San Antonio's Brett MacLean is back after leading the team with 30 goals and 65 points in 76 games last season. Also, veteran winger Ryan Hollweg is back for another season with San Antonio. Hollweg posted ten points and 93 penalty minutes in 53 games with the Rampage last year. Mikkel Boedker returns after scoring 38 points in 64 games with San Antonio last season. Boedker also played 14 games in the NHL with Phoenix. Acquired in a late season trade, Alexandre Picard racked up 15 points in 16 games with San Antonio in the last month of the season. Picard finished the year with 26 goals in 58 AHL contests.

In net, the Rampage pair Matt Climie with Al Montoya. Climie went 21-17-3 with a 2.46 goals against average and a .919 save percentage in 43 games with Texas in 2009-10. Climie is 13-5-0 with a 2.45 goals against average and a .924 save percentage. Montoya is 7-3-0 with a 2.92 goals against average and a .898 save percentage.

You Look Familiar....

Three former Texas Stars were signed in the offseason by the Rampage's NHL Affiliate, the Phoenix Coyotes. Defenseman Garrett Stafford, forward Mathieu Beaudoin, and goalie Matt Climie were all a part of the Stars 2010 Western Conference Championship squad.

Beaudoin leads the Rampage in points and he is tied for 13th overall in the league scoring race. Stafford has already enjoyed a call-up to the NHL's Phoenix Coyotes and he is leading the team in points among all defensemen with 20 in 22 games played. He is currently tied for fourth among all AHL blueliners, four points behind the leader. Climie is ranked 15th in the AHL for goals against average and 10th in save percentage. He sits second in the league in wins with 13.

Special Teams

After finishing second overall last season on the penalty kill, the Stars rank 25th overall at 79.4%. Texas sits 23rd in the AHL, converting 15.8% of its power plays. San Antonio is second overall on the power play, converting 23.1% of the time. San Antonio is 26th in the AHL on the penalty kill, stopping 78.9% of its opponents' power plays.

Offense and Defense

The Texas Stars are 10th overall in team defense, allowing 2.76 goals against per game. Texas is ranked 16th out of 30 teams, scoring an average of 2.90 goals per game. San Antonio's defense ranks ninth overall with a 2.75 goals against per game. The Rampage sits fourth offensively, averaging 3.46 goals per game.

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