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AHL Texas Stars

Game Day Preview: Syracuse at Texas

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


Texas and Syracuse meet for the first time this season and the third time in AHL history. The two teams will play a back-to-back set for a total of two games this season. The Stars will visit Syracuse this Friday to wrap up the season series. Texas' only win against the Crunch last season came on the road, a 3-1 victory at The War Memorial at Oncenter in Syracuse. The Stars went are 1-0-0-1 against Syracuse all-time. The Stars are coming off a 3-1 win at home over Houston on Saturday night. The Crunch posted a 4-1 win in San Antonio at the AT&T Center on Saturday.

Texas is 18-9-3-3 at Cedar Park Center this season and 5-2-1-2 in the last ten games. Texas is 11-6-1-3 in its last 21 meetings. With a 3-1win Saturday, the Stars posted their second straight win after suffering through a five-game winless skid (0-2-1-2). Four of the last six games for Texas have gone into a shootout or overtime. Texas has collected points in eight of the last ten games. The Stars conclude a five-game home stand on Monday. Texas is 2-1-0-1 over the course of the home stand. The Stars are 28-14-2-4 against the West Division this season and 6-7-2-1 against the North Division this season. Syracuse is the only team Texas sees from the Eastern Conference all season. Texas is the least penalized team in the league accruing 13.09 penalty minutes a game. The Stars are 19-2-4-5 in one-goal games this year and 20-0-1-1 when leading after two periods of play this season.

Texas will play the next six games outside of the West Division and eight of the next nine. The Stars have 16 games remaining on the schedule, including seven at Cedar Park Center. The final seven games of the regular season will be against the West Division and over a stretch of the first ten days of April. Texas will play division rivals Chicago, Oklahoma City (2), Rockford, San Antonio, Milwaukee and Peoria down the stretch.

Syracuse is 10-19-1-2 away from home this year and 3-6-1-0 in the last ten games played. The Crunch is playing the final game of a four-game road trip that included stops in Rochester, Houston and San Antonio. So far, the team is 1-1-0-1 on the trip. The club has one win in the last five games (1-3-1-0) and only three wins in the last 11. The Crunch is tied for the fewest points in the AHL at 49, joining only Adirondack and Bridgeport. The team has been outscored 106-74 in 32 road games and 90-76 in 29 home games. Syracuse has been outscored 58-38 in the first period this season and 70-50 in the third period.

The Crunch is 15-9-1-1 when scoring the first goal of the night for a total 26 times this season. The club is 1-2-1-0 in four games against teams from the West Division. Syracuse allows 34.16 shots per game, the highest average in the AHL. The Crunch has a 10-12-3-4 record in one-goal games and the team is 11-2-1-0 when leading after one period of play this season. Syracuse has a 9-13-0-3 record when tied after one period of play this season, but a 3-22-0-2 record when trailing after two periods. Syracuse averages 18.15 penalty minutes per game this season.

Texas Releases Bonk

The Texas Stars announced on Wednesday that the club has released center Dave Bonk from a PTO (professional tryout agreement).

Bonk played in 11 games with Texas, scoring twice and setting up one other for three points with the Stars. The 28-year old center had played the majority of the season with the CHL's Allen Americans. In 33 games with the Americans, Bonk scored 15 goals and added 29 assists for 44 points. The 188-pound center also appeared in six games with the AHL's Oklahoma City Barons earlier this year, posting one assist and four penalty minutes.

What's Ahead:

DATE OPPONENT TIME TV/RADIO

Friday, March 11 at Syracuse 6:30 PM 1530 AM

Saturday, March 12 at Hamilton 3:00 PM 104.9 FM

Sunday, March 13 at Toronto 2:00 PM 104.9 FM

Friday, March 18 at Manitoba 7:30 PM 1530 AM

Sunday, March 20 at Manitoba 2:00 PM 104.9 FM

Tuesday, March 22 vs. Houston 7:30 PM 104.9 FM

* All times listed are central time

GAME RECAPS:

Houston 1 at Texas 3 3/5/11

The Texas Stars defeated the Houston Aeros 3-1 Saturday night in front of 6,544 fans at Cedar Park Center. Stars left wing Brandon Segal scored the game-winning goal and finished with an assist to lead the Texas attack. Center Aaron Gagnon and defenseman Philip Larsen each tallied two assists on the night, as Texas ended a six-game losing skid to Houston. Stars goalie Tyler Beskorowany (6-5-1) stopped 29 shots as Houston outshot Texas 30-25. Defenseman Maxime Fortunus and right wing Greg Rallo also scored as Texas pulled within two points of second place in the West Division. Houston left wing Jon DiSalvatore scored the Aeros lone goal. Houston goalie Matt Hackett (15-13-3) stopped 23 of 25 shots for the loss.

San Antonio 5 at Texas 6 SO 3/4/11

The Texas Stars defeated the San Antonio Rampage 6-5 in overtime Friday night in front of 5,036 fans at Cedar Park Center. Right wing Greg Rallo scored the game-winning goal in overtime against the Rampage to supply the Stars with an additional point. Center Aaron Gagnon had a multi-point night, scoring the final regulation goal with 19 seconds left to force overtime. The Stars opened up the first period with four unanswered goals. Ray Sawada netted two, paired with Brandon Segal's tally and Cody Chupp's marker. Defenseman Maxime Fortunus provided an assist on each of the first three Stars goals for a three-point night. The Rampage scored five consecutive goals in the third period. Stars goalie Richard Bachman stopped 28 shots to preserve the win. San Antonio goalie Matt Climie stopped 7 of 10 shots and was pulled after 6:10 of play. Rampage goalie Joe Fallon stopped 21 of 24 shots faced, taking the overtime loss. The two teams combined for 94 penalty minutes, including 49 for the Rampage. It was the most combined penalty minutes in one game between the two rivals.

Abbotsford 5 at Texas 3 3/1/11

The Texas Stars were defeated by the Abbotsford Heat 5-3 on Tuesday night in front of 5,878 fans at Cedar Park Center. Heat forwards Logan MacMillan and Ales Kotalik each had a multi-point night to lead Abbotsford to a road win. Goalie Leland Irving stopped 25 shots pushing Abbotsford road record to 13-12-1-3. Stars center Aaron Gagnon had a multi-point night with two assists. Texas skaters Greg Rallo, Francis Wathier and Brad Lukowich each scored in the defeat. Defensemen T.J. Brodie and Chris Breen both tallied two assists to help the Heat.

The Texas Stars

After 64 games of action, right wing Greg Rallo leads the team lead in points with 40 (21g-19a) in 64 games played. Ralllo also leads the team with 21 goals and 193 shots on net. Center Travis Morin is second for Texas in scoring with 13 goals and 21 assists for 34 points in 48 games played. Morin has missed the last 14 games with an injury. Dan Spang is third overall on the team with 33 points. He leads the team lead in assists (24), as well as all defensemen in goals (9) and shots on goal (138). Colton Sceviour is fifth on the team with 20 assists and fourth with 31 points in 62 games played. Left wing Francis Wathier is second on the team with 16 goals and 144 shots in 54 games played. Defensemen Brad Lukowich and Maxime Fortunus are tied for second on the team with 22 assists. Left wing Luke Gazdic leads the team with 96 penalty minutes.

Right wing Brandon Segal has eight assists and ten points in his last eight games played. Center Aaron Gagnon has seven assists and eight points in his last six games played. Defenseman Maxime Fortunus has three assists and four points in his last three games.

Texas Stars goalies Richard Bachman and Tyler Beskorowany fill the net for the Stars. Bachman has appeared in 42 games, going 22-14-4 with a 2.36 goals against average and a .922 save percentage. Bachman ranks in the top ten in the AHL for goals against average and save percentage. Bachman has started 27 of the last 35 games. Goalie Brent Krahn has appeared in 12 games, posting a 6-6-0 mark, a 3.20 goals against average and a .895 save percentage. Krahn is out with an injury. Beskorowany has posted a 1.84 goals against average and stopped 355 of 374 shots (.946 %) in his last 11 appearances (6-3-1) with Texas this year. Overall, Beskorowany is 6-5-1 with a 2.35 goals against average and a .931 save percentage.

Career Highs...

Several Texas Stars have set new career highs over the last few weeks. Defenseman Maxime Fortunus recently set a new career high for points and assists in one season. He currently has 26 points and 22 assists, surpassing his mark of 18 assists in 2006-07 with the Manitoba Moose. Last season, Fortunus set a career-high with 11 goals and 23 points in 72 games for Texas. Right wing Greg Rallo has a new career high of goals in a season with 21. Rallo tallied 19 in 69 games with Texas in 2009-10. Defenseman Dan Spang has career highs for goals, assists and points in an AHL season. In 2007-08 he set career marks with eight goals, 23 assists and 32 points in 77 games for Worcester. This season he has nine goals, 24 assists and 33 points in 61 games for the Stars. Colton Sceviour has 11 goals, beating his total of nine in his rookie campaign last year. He needs one point and three assists to set new marks in those categories. Left wing Luke Gazdic had three goals and four points as a rookie in 48 games last year. This year he has nine goals and 17 points in 61 games played.

Syracuse Crunch

The Crunch only returns one player from 2009-10 team that went 34-39-4-3 with 75 points and a sixth place finish in the East Division. The Crunch changed their NHL Affiliate from Columbus to Anaheim.

Left wing Nicholas Deschamps leads the team with 34 points (12g, 22a) in 61 games played. Left wing Josh Green is second with 11 goals and 34 points in 50 games played. Green has four assists and six points in his last five games. Left wing Patrick Maroon leads the team with 18 goals with 10 coming on the power-play. Maroon is third on the team with 33 points in 48 games played. Right wing Kyle Palmieri is second in goals scored with 14 and he is fourth with 31 points in 43 games played. Left wing Leigh Salters and right wing Brian McGratton are tied for the Crunch lead with 99 penalty minutes each.

The Syracuse Crunch announced on Saturday that the Anaheim Ducks have recalled goaltender J.P. Levasseur and assigned goaltender Ray Emery to Syracuse. Emery will be teamed up with rookie Timo Pielmeier in net.

The 28-year old Emery, has appeared in four games with the Crunch this season, going 3-1-0 with a 2.22 goals against and .939 save percentage. He was recalled by Anaheim on February 23, but did not appear in a game with the Ducks. A native of Hamilton, Ontario, Emery has appeared in 163 career NHL games with Ottawa and Philadelphia since the 2002-03 season, going 87-51-15-11 with a 2.70 goals against average .907 save percentage and 11 shutouts. He skated in 29 games with the Flyers last season, going 16-11-1-3 with a 2.64 goals against average and .905 save percentage before getting sidelined with a hip injury.

In 28 games played this season, Pielmeier is 10-15-1 with a 3.31 goals against average and a .902 save percentage.

Levasseur, 24, appeared in 36 games for the Crunch this season, going 8-20-3 with a 2.97 goals against average, .912 save percentage and four shutouts. His four shutouts are tied for eighth among all AHL goaltenders. Levasseur was named the Reebok/AHL Player of the Week for the week ending December 19, 2010 after going 2-0-0 with a 1.50 goals against average and .960 save percentage.

Special Teams

After finishing second overall last season on the penalty kill, the Stars rank 27th overall at 77.5%. Texas sits 20th in the AHL, converting on 17.2% of its power plays. The Crunch is 13th overall on the power play, converting 18.6% of the time. Syracuse is 22nd overall on the penalty kill, stopping 80.9% of its opponents' power plays.

Offense and Defense

The Texas Stars are 12th overall in team defense, allowing 2.78 goals against per game. Texas is ranked 18th out of 30 teams, scoring an average of 2.78 goals per game. Houston's defense is fifth overall with a 2.57 goals against per game. The Aeros sit 16th offensively, averaging 2.85 goals per game.

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