AHL Texas Stars

Gameday Preview - Charlotte at Texas

Published on February 4, 2012 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Texas Stars News Release


Charlotte Checkers (27-16-2-2, 58 points) at Texas Stars (20-21-1-2, 43 points)

The Texas Stars and the Charlotte Checkers meet for the fourth time in AHL history. The teams split a pair of games in Charlotte the last week of November. Texas took the last meeting, a 3-0 win at home for the Stars. Charlotte was in the Eastern Conference in 2010-11 and shifted to the Western Conference over the summer. The Checkers lead the newly formed Midwest Division, sitting ahead of Peoria, Chicago, Milwaukee and Rockford. The Stars are six points back of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Texas has five wins in its last ten games, going 5-5-0-0 over that span. The Stars have lost three straight after winning three straight. The team is coming off a 3-1 loss in Houston on Thursday night. Prior to their game in Houston, the team lost at San Antonio and at Oklahoma City. Texas begins a three-game home stand on Saturday that will conclude on Tuesday and Wednesday with Milwaukee. Texas is 10-7-1-1 at home this season, outscoring the opposition 65-56 at Cedar Park Center. Texas has taken seven of the last nine home games and posted points in eight of the last nine. The Stars are 9-15-0-2 against the West Division and 8-6-1-0 against the Midwest Division. Texas' scoring has been spread out evenly this season, with 40 first-period tallies and 52 second-period markers. Since Dec. 3 (last 24 games), Texas has outscored the opposition 34-20 in the second period after getting outscored in the middle frame 26-18 in the previous 20 games. The Stars lead the opposition in second-period scoring with a 52-47 edge. The club has been outscored by the opposing team 135-129 for the season. Texas is 13th in the league with a 2.93 goals per game average and it ranks 25th defensively with a 3.07 goals against average. The Stars are 14-0-1-1 when leading after two periods of play, but they are 2-18-0-0 when trailing after two periods of play. The team is 10-8-1-2 in games decided by one goal this season. Texas leads the AHL with five overtime wins this season, going 5-0-1-2 when tied after regulation. The Stars are tied for third in the AHL with nine shorthanded goals this season.

Charlotte started a four-game road trip with a 3-1 win at Oklahoma City on Friday night. The team has wins in six of the last eight games. Charlotte is 6-3-0-1 in the last ten games played. The Checkers are 12-8-1-1 on the road this season, outscoring their opponents 64-61. Charlotte will also visit Peoria and Milwaukee to round out its road swing. The Checkers have done the bulk of their scoring in the second period with 49 goals. The team has 45 goals in the first and 37 in the third period. Charlotte is outscoring its opponents 49-36 in the middle period of play this season. Charlotte is 15-5-0-1 when leading after the first and 21-6-1-0 when leading after the second. The Checkers have scored the first goal 25 times this year, posting a 17-6-1-1 record when scoring first. Charlotte is averaging 32.15 shots per game, ranking seventh in the AHL. The Checkers are 24th in the AHL with 14.55 penalty minutes per game.

Texas Stars

Center Travis Morin and winger Matt Fraser lead Texas in scoring. Morin is the clubhouse leader with 33 assists and 38 points in his first 44 games played. He ranks in the top five of the AHL for assists and top ten of the league for power-play helpers. Rookie forward Matt Fraser is second in scoring with 35 points in 43 games. He leads the team with 21 goals scored and 150 shots on net. Fraser sits in the top five of the AHL for goals scored, including ranking tied for sixth in power-play goals (9). Fraser is fourth overall among all rookies in points and first in shots.

Colton Sceviour, Francis Wathier and Ryan Garbutt round out the top scorers for Texas. Colton Sceviour is second on the team with 20 assists and he is third with 28 points. Sceviour has two goals and eight assists in his last 10 games. Last Saturday in Oklahoma City he became the first Texas Star to play in 200 games for the club. Center Ryan Garbutt has 28 points (12g-16a) in 44 games. He is second on the team in goals scored and tied for third in assists. He also leads the team with 72 penalty minutes, followed by Francis Wathier's 68 and Luke Gazdic's 64 minutes. Garbutt is tied for fourth in the AHL with five shorthanded points and second with four shorthanded assists. Wathier is tied for third overall on the team with nine goals and he is fifth with 25 points. Wathier and Sceviour are tied for second all-time on the Stars scoring list with 100 points each. Rookie center Scott Glennie has 10 points in his last 11 games, scoring five goals and setting up five others. Stephen Schultz has three goals and four points over the last four games.

Jordie Benn leads all defenders and is tied for third in the AHL with eight goals. He is also first among Texas blueliners with 19 points in 40 games played. Captain Brad Lukowich is tied for second among Texas defensemen in scoring with 17 points in 37 games played. Dan Spang leads all defensemen with 15 assists and he is tied for second with 17 points in 43 games. Rookie Brenden Dillon (2-14-16) is fourth in points and he is first among D-men with 48 penalty minutes. Veteran defender Maxime Fortunus has 15 points in 40 games.

Goalies Andrew Raycroft and Tyler Beskorowany split time in net for Texas. Raycroft is 6-4-1 with a 2.61 goals against average and a .913 save percentage in 12 starts for the Stars. He posted a season-high 42 saves at Oklahoma City last Saturday. Beskorowany is 6-10-0 with a 3.10 goals against average and a .891 save percentage.

Special Teams

The Stars have converted 43 of 207 power plays for a 20.8% conversion rate, as Texas ranks fifth overall in power play percentage. The team has 15 power-play goals over the last 14 games - going 15-for-64 over that span. The Stars have killed off 139 of 168 opponents' power plays (82.7%), ranking 15th overall on the penalty kill. Texas has the fewest amount of total penalty kills in the AHL at 168. The Checkers are seventh in the AHL on the penalty kill, stopping 83.6% of their opponents' power plays. Overall, Charlotte ranks second in the AHL on the power play after going 48-for-218 (22.0%).

The Charlotte Checkers

The Checkers return 15 players a from 2010-11 squad that made a deep Calder Cup Playoff run, falling in the Eastern Conference Finals to Binghamton after knocking out Hershey and Wilkes-Barre. The Checkers line-up is composed of 18 drafted players, including 13 Carolina Hurricanes draft picks. The team carries three former first round selections and two second round picks. Carolina selected Zach Boychuk in the first round in 2008 (14th overall). Defenseman Bobby Sanguinetti (NYR-06 21st overall) and center Riley Nash (EDM-07 21st overall) are also former first round picks on the Checkers roster.

Left wing Chris Terry leads the club in scoring with a team-high 30 assists and 40 points in 45 games played. Terry ranks among the league leaders with 20 power-play assists. Right wing Jerome Samson is second in team scoring, he has a team-high 15 goals and 27 points in 38 games played. Samson is fourth overall in the AHL with 165 shots on goal. Center Zach Boychuk is third on the team with 12 goals and 27 points in 36 games played. Defenseman Bobby Sanguinetti leads all team defensemen and is fourth overall in team scoring with 25 points in 36 games played. He is second on the team with 14 power-play assists. In all, five different Checkers have double-digit goal totals.

In net, the Checkers feature goalies Mike Murphy and John Muse. With four straight starts, John Muse is now 6-1-0 with a 1.48 goals against average and a .953 save percentage. Muse has started five of the last six games and won four of them. Fellow tender Mike Murphy is 15-11-1 with a 2.71 goals against average and a .910 save percentage.

Shorthanded Supremacy

The 2011-12 Texas Stars are rewriting the team record books for shorthanded goals. So far this season, Texas has an AHL-high six shorthanded goals scored at home this year. In all, the Stars rank in the top five of the AHL with nine shorthanded goals this season. In the Stars Inaugural season, the team mustered two SHGs at home and two on the road for four on the season. Texas scored two SHGs at home in 2010-11 and tallied three on the road for five in the team's second full season in the AHL.

Dallas Summons Vincour

The Dallas Stars announced on Friday that the club has placed left wing Brenden Morrow on injured reserve with an upper body injury retroactive to Feb. 2 and recalled forward Tomas Vincour (vin-sooer) from the Texas Stars, Dallas' primary affiliate in the American Hockey League (AHL).

Vincour, 21, has earned one goal and two assists totaling three points in 18 contests for Dallas this season. The Brno, CZE native is being recalled from Texas, where he ranks third in team goal scoring with 11 goals in 18 games. The second-year pro was drafted in the fifth round (#129 overall) by Dallas in 2009.

Dallas Recalls Larsen From Texas

The Dallas Stars announced on Monday that defenseman Philip Larsen has been recalled from the Texas Stars, Dallas' primary affiliate in the American Hockey League (AHL). Dallas also reassigned forward Jake Hauswirth from Texas to the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees of the Central Hockey League.

Larsen, 22, has skated in 21 games for Dallas this season, scoring one goal and two assists in that span. The young defenseman has played in 12 games for Texas this season, setting up nine goals and racking up ten points. Dallas drafted Larsen with the 149th pick (fifth round) of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.

Hauswirth played in 11 games for Texas, setting up one goal for his first AHL point. He started the 2011-12 season with Rio Grande Valley, scoring six goals and adding seven assists for 13 points in 21 games played.

Texas Recalls Coyle From Idaho

The Texas Stars announced on Wednesday that defenseman Jace Coyle has been reassigned from the Idaho Steelheads of the ECHL to the Texas Stars. Texas is Dallas' primary affiliate in the American Hockey League (AHL) and Idaho is Dallas' ECHL affiliate.

The rookie defenseman has split time between Idaho and Texas this year, recording an assist in 17 games with the Stars this season. The rookie defender has played in 13 games with Idaho, setting up two goals.

LAST THREE GAMES

Texas 1 at Houston 3 2/2/12

The Texas Stars were defeated by the Houston Aeros 3-1 in front of 5,248 fans at the Toyota Center on Thursday night. Aeros defenseman Chay Genoway broke a 1-1 tie at 8:39 of the third period, giving his club the lead for the remainder of the contest. Forward Casey Wellman scored and added an assist, as the Aereos ended a six-game winless skid. Houston goalie Matt Hackett stopped 26 of 27 Texas shots in the win. Texas goalie Andrew Raycroft stopped 32 of 34, as the team slipped to 10-14-0-1 on the road this season. Texas forward Ryan Garbutt scored the team's lone goal.

Texas 1 at Oklahoma City 3 1/28/12

The Texas Stars were defeated by the Oklahoma City Barons 3-1 in front of 5,606 fans at the Cox Convention Center on Saturday night. Barons' goalie David LeNeveu stopped 22 of 23 for the win. Texas goalie Andrew Raycroft stopped a season-high 42 of 44 shots in the loss. Barons' forwards Ryan Keller, Philip Cornet and Hunter Trembley each scored in the win. Texas left wing Francis Wathier netted the lone goal in the Stars defeat.

Texas 2 at San Antonio 6 1/27/12

The Texas Stars were defeated by the San Antonio Rampage 6-2 in front of 7,869 fans at AT&T Center on Friday night. San Antonio scored three goals in the first period and went on to end the Stars three-game winning streak. Six different Rampage skaters registered a multi-point night, as the team won its sixth straight game. Rampage goalie Dov Grumet-Morris stopped 23 of 25 for the win. Stars forwards Angelo Esposito and Tomas Vincour each scored in the loss, as the team fell to 10-12-0-1 on the road this season. Texas goalie Andrew Raycroft took the loss, stopping 15 of 20 shots in 47:22 of play. Tyler Beskorowany finished the game in net for Texas, stopping five of six.

What's Ahead:

DATE OPPONENT TIME RADIO

Saturday, February 4 vs. Charlotte 7:00 PM 104.9 FM

Tuesday, February 7 vs. Milwaukee 7:30 PM 104.9 FM

Wednesday, February 8 vs. Milwaukee 7:30 PM 104.9 FM

Friday, February 10 at Rochester 6:35 PM 92.5 FM

* All times listed are central time

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American Hockey League Stories from February 4, 2012


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