AHL Texas Stars

Game Day Preview - Texas at San Antonio

January 7, 2011 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Texas Stars News Release


Texas and San Antonio meet for the sixth time this season and 18th 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 have taken four of the five games of the season series this year. The last meeting was on December 17th at the AT&T Center, a 3-0 win for the Stars. 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 5-3-0-0 all-time at the AT&T Center, including four shutouts.

The Stars are 10-5-0-1 away from Cedar Park Center this season. Texas has collected points in seven straight games (5-0-1-1) and in eight of the last ten games (6-2-1-1). The Stars are 15-5-2-2 (.708) in their last 24 games. The stretch started after a team-record four straight defeats in early November. Texas concludes a five-game road trip in San Antonio on Friday. Texas returns home on Saturday, January 8th to host Lake Erie. Four of the last six Stars games have been decided by one goal. Texas is 10-1-2-2 in one-goal games this year. Texas has points in five straight (4-0-0-1) road games as the Stars are coming off a 3-0 win in Abbotsford last Friday.

San Antonio is 13-7-0-0 at the AT&T Center this year and 4-6-0-0 in the last ten games played. The Rampage have lost four straight decisions heading into Friday. San Antonio is 2-3-0-0 in the last five at home and 0-3-0-0 at home against Texas this season.

San Antonio is coming off a 7-4 loss at Peoria on Wednesday.

Through five 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 Philip Larsen, each have four points in the season series. San Antonio center Andrew Ebbett leads the Rampage with three assists in five 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 2-0-1 with a 0.97 goals against average and a .968 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. Joe Fallon is 0-1-0 with a 2.04 goals against average and a .905 save percentage.

Dallas Recalls Larsen

The Dallas Stars announced on Thursday that the club has placed center Toby Petersen on injured reserve, retroactive to Jan. 2. The club has also recalled defenseman Philip Larsen from the Texas Stars, Dallas' primary affiliate in the American Hockey League (AHL).

Larsen, 21, has played in 29 games for Texas so far this season, posting 13 points (0g, 13a) and eight penalty minutes. He has also appeared in three games for Dallas this season, accruing one assist. The Esbjerg, Denmark, native made his NHL debut last season with the club, appearing in two games and collecting one assist. Larsen was selected by the Stars in the fifth round (149th overall) of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.

Texas Assigns Tristan King To Idaho

The Texas Stars announced on Friday that forward Tristan King has been assigned to the Idaho Steelheads, Texas' ECHL affiliate. The 20-year old rookie has played in 11 games for Texas this season, scoring two goals and totaling four points. In a previous stint with the Steelheads, King set up three goals and collected four points in six games.

What's Ahead:

DATE OPPONENT TIME TV/RADIO

Saturday, Jan. 8 vs. Lake Erie 7:00 PM 104.9 FM

Wednesday, Jan. 12 at Chicago 11:00 AM 1530 AM

Friday, Jan. 14 at Rockford 7:05 PM 104.9 FM

Saturday, Jan. 15 at Peoria 7:05 PM 104.9 FM

Tuesday, Jan 18 vs. Grand Rapids 7:30 PM 104.9 FM

* All times listed are central time

GAME RECAPS:

Texas 3 at Abbotsford 0 12/31/10

Abbotsford, BC - The Texas Stars defeated the Abbotsford Heat 3-0 on Friday night in front of 3,261 fans at the Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre. Goalie Tyler Beskorowany (3-4-0) made 25 saves for his first AHL shutout, helping the Stars extend their points streak to a season-high seven games (5-0-1-1). Forwards Fabian Brunnstrom, Raymond Sawada and Mathieu Tousignant each scored as Texas moved within one point of first place in the West Division. Stars center Travis Morin had two assists, as Texas improved to 10-5-0-1 on the road this season. Abbotsford goalie Leland Irving (15-12-1) stopped 21 of 23 Texas shots in the defeat.

Texas 4 at Abbotsford 1 12/30/10

Abbotsford, BC - The Texas Stars defeated the Abbotsford Heat 4-1 on Thursday night in front of 3,352 fans at the Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre. Stars goalie Richard Bachman (13-5-2) made 38 saves and picked up an assist, holding Abbotsford scoreless for the first 51:49 of the game. The Stars extended their points streak to a season-high six games (4-0-1-1). Forwards Tomas Vincour, Fabian Brunnstrom, Ondrej Roman and Luke Gazdic each scored as Texas improved to 9-5-0-1 on the road this season. Abbotsford goalie Leland Irving stopped 20 Texas shots, as the Heat's winless skid reached four games (0-3-1-0).

Texas 4 at Oklahoma City 3 (SO) 12/28/10

Oklahoma City, OK - The Texas Stars defeated the Oklahoma City Barons 4-3 in a shootout on Tuesday night in front of 4,470 fans at the Cox Convention Center. Stars left wing Fabian Brunnstrom tied the game 3-3, scoring his sixth of the year with 49 seconds left in regulation. Texas Stars goalie Richard Bachman took care of the rest, stopping 32 shots in regulation and three of five in the shootout to preserve the road win. Rookie forward Tomas Vincour started the rally with a goal 1:49 into the third period, bringing the Stars within striking distance. Oklahoma City goalie Martin Gerber (11-7-2) stopped 37 Texas shots in regulation, but allowed three goals on four attempts in the shootout loss. Texas right wing Greg Rallo also scored his 11th of the year. Despite two goals from center Brad Moran, Oklahoma City's winless streak slid to five games (0-4-0-1).

The Texas Stars

After 36 games of action, center Travis Morin leads Texas in scoring with 13 goals and 30 points. Right wing Greg Rallo is second on the team in scoring with 22 points (11g-11a) in 36 games played. Left wing Francis Wathier is third on the club with 20 points. Wathier is second in goals scored (12) and leads the team lead with six power-play goals. Right wing Colton Sceviour is fourth on the team in points with 18 (6g -12a). Fabian Brunnstrom is fifth with 17 while Dan Spang is sixth overall on the team with 16 points. Spang is second on the team in assists (13) and leads all defensemen in points and shots on goal (81). Defensemen Brad Lukowich and Philip Larsen are tied for second on the team with 13 assists each. Left wing Luke Gazdic's 61 penalty minutes lead the team.

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 22 games, going 13-5-2 with a 2.04 goals against average and a .933 save percentage. Bachman ranks seventh overall in the AHL for goals against average and sixth in save percentage. Bachman has started seven of the last eight and 17 of the last 11. Beskorowany has posted a 2.02 goals against average and stopped 169 of 179 shots (.944 %) in his last five games. Overall, Beskorowany is 3-4-0 with a 2.88 goals against average and a .919 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.

Closing out 2010

The Stars played their final game of the year 2010 on Friday night in Abbotsford. Dating to the back half of the 2009-10 season, the Stars have posted a 47-27-4-2 regular season record (.625 winning percentage) in 80 games played. Texas also played 24 Calder Cup Playoff games, going 14-10 with three of those losses coming in OT. In all, the Stars played 104 games in 2010, winning 61 of them.

Milestones

A few Texas Stars have hit milestones lately. Last Thursday night, defenseman Maxime Fortunus played in his 400th AHL game. Forward Mathieu Tousignant also played in his 100th professional game on Thursday evening in Abbotsford. Defenseman Matt Stephenson is sitting at 99 AHL games, while right wing Greg Rallo needs nine more games to reach his 300th pro game. Francis Wathier is two games shy of his 300th pro game. He is expected to play in his 300th pro game at home this Saturday against Lake Erie.

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 wing Brett MacLean leads the Rampage in scoring with 33 points. MacLean has a team-high 15 goals in 28 games played. Defenseman Garrett Stafford is second on the team and he leads all Rampage defenders with 28 points in 31 games played. The former Star is first among all AHL defenseman in scoring. Right wing Mathieu Beaudoin is tied for third on the team in points and third in goals (12) in 27 games played. He has missed the last ten games with an injury. Left wing Mikkel Boedker is second on the club with 20 assists and tied for third on the team with 27 points in 32 games played.

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 Al Montoya and Matt Climie. 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 14-7-0 with a 2.53 goals against average and a .919 save percentage. Montoya is 7-6-0 with a 3.17 goals against average and a .889 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.

Stafford has already enjoyed a call-up to the NHL's Phoenix Coyotes and he is leading all AHL defensemen in points with 28 in 31 games played. Climie is ranked 17th in the AHL for goals against average and 12th in save percentage. He sits third in the league in wins with 14. Beaudoin was among the Rampage leaders prior to an injury that has forced him out the last ten games.

Special Teams

After finishing second overall last season on the penalty kill, the Stars rank 26th overall at 78.1%. Texas sits 19th in the AHL, converting 16.7% of its power plays. San Antonio is second overall on the power play, converting 22.9% of the time. San Antonio is 25th in the AHL on the penalty kill, stopping 79.0% of its opponents' power plays.

Offense and Defense

The Texas Stars are ninth overall in team defense, allowing 2.61 goals against per game. Texas is ranked 13th out of 30 teams, scoring an average of 2.97 goals per game. San Antonio's defense ranks 16th overall with a 2.95 goals against per game. The Rampage sits seventh offensively, averaging 3.27 goals per game.

Check out the Texas Stars Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from January 7, 2011


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