AHL Texas Stars

Game Day Preview Lake Erie at Texas

Published on January 8, 2011 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Texas Stars News Release


Texas is meeting Lake Erie for the second time this season and the sixth time in history. Last year, Texas posted a 2-1-1-0 mark against the Monsters. The Stars have taken the only meeting this season, a 3-2 win over the Monsters on Oct. 22nd at Cedar Park Center.

The Stars are 11-6-2-1 at Cedar Park Center this season. Last night, Texas had its seven-game (5-0-1-1) points streak snapped at San Antonio. The Stars are 5-3-1-1 in their last ten games. The Stars are 15-6-2-2 (.680) in their last 25 games. The stretch started after a team-record four straight defeats in early November. Texas concluded a five-game road trip in San Antonio on Friday with a 5-1 loss. Texas returns home for the first time in 2011. The Stars last played at home on December 20th. Texas is 10-1-2-2 in one-goal games this year.

Lake Erie is 5-12-1-2 on the road this year and 3-6-1-0 in the last ten games played. The Monsters are winless in their last two games and have dropped five of their last seven. Lake Erie is winless in the last eight road games, with the team's last road win coming on Nov. 24th at Rockford. The Monsters are the only team in the Western Conference below a .500 winning percentage. The Monsters dropped a 3-0 decision at Houston on Saturday night. The Monsters have been outscored 59-38 on the road this year, but have outscored their opponents 62-53 at home.

Texas and Lake Erie played four times last season with Stars right wing Greg Rallo leading all scorers with five points. In four games against Lake Erie last year, Rallo scored twice and set up three others. The top three scorers for the Monsters in last year's season series are no longer with the team. Forwards Darren Haydar, Marty Sertich and Brian Willsie each posted four points for Lake Erie against Texas. Brent Krahn is the only goalie remaining for either team that saw action last season. Krahn gave up three goals in his only appearance against the Monsters, winning the game 5-3 last October.

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.

What's Ahead:

DATE OPPONENT TIME TV/RADIO

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

Friday, Jan. 21 at Houston 7:05 PM 104.9 FM

* All times listed are central time

GAME RECAPS:

Texas 1 at San Antonio 5 1/7/11

San Antonio, TX - The Texas Stars were defeated by the San Antonio Rampage 5-1 on Friday night in front of 7, 701 fans at AT&T Center. After Texas claimed a 1-0 lead, the Rampage scored the next five to end a four-game winless skid (0-4-0-0). Former Texas goalie Matt Climie (15-7-0) made 26 saves in net for the Rampage win. Texas goalie Richard Bachman (13-6-2) suffered the loss with 18 saves. Stars forward Fabian Brunnstrom scored the lone Texas goal in the first period.

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).

The Texas Stars

After 37 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 37 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 (6g-12a) and left wing Fabian Brunnstromm (9g-9a) are tied for fourth on the team in points with 18. Dan Spang is sixth overall on the team with 16 points. Spang is also tied for second on the team in assists (13) and leads all defensemen in 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 23 games, going 13-6-2 with a 2.17 goals against average and a .927 save percentage. Bachman ranks ninth overall in the AHL for goals against average and seventh in save percentage. Bachman has started eight of the last nine. 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 last 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 last Thursday evening in Abbotsford. Defenseman Matt Stephenson is sitting at 99 AHL games, while right wing Greg Rallo needs eight more games to reach his 300th pro game. Francis Wathier is expected to play in his 300th pro game against Lake Erie.

Lake Erie Monsters

The Monsters return 13 players from last year's team that posted a 34-37-1-8 mark. Head Coach David Quinn returns for his second season behind the bench with the Colorado Avalanche's AHL affiliate. The Monsters lost their top four scorers from last year's team. Leading scorer TJ Hensick (70 pts) is now in Peoria, right wing Darren Hardar (64 pts) went to Chicago, Brian Willsie (57 pts) departed for Hershey, and Kevin Porter moved up to Colorado (NHL).

Through the first 39 games of play, center Ben Walter leads the Monsters in scoring with a team-high 17 assists and 26 points. Center Julian Talbot is second on the squad with 16 assists and 22 points in 38 games of action. Forward Ryan Stoa leads the team with 12 goals and is third in scoring with 21 points in 37 games played. Mark Olver is tied for third in scoring with 11 goals and 21 points in 34 games played. Patrick Rissmiller has been nearly a point a game since arriving from Chicago. In 21 games with the Monsters, Rissmiller has 12 assists and 18 points. Last season with Grand Rapids, Rissmiller scored three goals and totaled six points in four games against Texas.

The Monsters return Ryan Stoa, who tallied 23 goals as a rookie out of the University of Minnesota last season. Stoa finished with 40 points in 54 games with Lake Erie last year. He also played in 12 games for Colorado. During the offseason, the Monsters obtained nine players who were not with the club last season: goaltender Jason Bacashihua; defenseman Joel Chouinard, Cameron Gaunce and David Liffiton; and forwards Curtis Fraser, Greg Mauldin, Julian Talbot, Luke Walker and Ben Walter. Center Ben Walter totaled 58 points on 22 goals and 36 assists last year with Lowell. Walter has tallied at least 20 goals in four straight seasons. After posting 12 points in 14 games, Mauldin was recalled to Colorado and has yet to return.

Two veteran goalies lead the Monsters between the pipes. John Grahame, who won a Stanley Cup in 2004 with Tampa Bay, is 97-86-0 in 224 NHL appearances over his career. Last year, Grahame went 6-17-3 with a 3.17 goals against average and a .889 save percentage between Lake Erie and Adirondack. Jason Bacashihua spent last year in Hershey, winning a Calder Cup with the Bears. In 22 games, Bacashihua went 17-3-1 with a 2.48 goals against average and a .908 save percentage. Grahame is 4-6-2 with a 2.41 goals against average and a .917 save percentage. Bacashihua is 9-11-2 with a 2.51 goals against average and a .905 save percentage.

Special Teams

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After finishing second overall last season on the penalty kill, the Texas Stars penalty kill is 27th overall at 77.7%. Texas ranks 21st best in the AHL, converting on 16.3% of its power plays. The Monsters are 24th overall on the power play, converting 15.5% of the time. Lake Erie is ninth overall on the penalty kill, stopping 84.6% of their opponents' power plays.

Offense and Defense

The Texas Stars are ninth overall in team defense, allowing 2.68 goals against per game. Texas is ranked 15th out of 30 teams, scoring an average of 2.92 goals per game. Lake Erie's defense ranks 12th overall with a 2.87 goals against per game. The Monsters sit 25th offensively, averaging 2.56 goals per game.

Check out the Texas Stars Statistics

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American Hockey League Stories from January 8, 2011


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