Sports stats



AHL Texas Stars

Gameday Preview - Chicago at Texas

April 1, 2011 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Texas Stars News Release


Texas and Chicago meet for sixth and final time this season, the 14th all-time regular season meeting. Texas has taken all five meetings this season, including the last meeting, a 3-2 win at Allstate Arena over Chicago on February 19th. Texas has outscored Chicago 22-12 in the season series. The Stars are 9-3-1-0 all time against the Wolves. Texas is coming off a 5-1 win over Grand Rapids at home last Saturday night. Chicago is coming off a 5-3 win at Houston on Thursday evening.

Texas is 21-10-3-3 at Cedar Park Center this season and 6-3-0-1 in the last ten games. The Stars have tied a season high with four straight wins. Texas has collected points in seven of the last ten games. The team will conclude a four-game home stand on Friday with Chicago, play in Oklahoma City on Saturday, and then return home on Sunday to host Rockford. The Stars are a perfect 3-0-0-0 over the home stand, outscoring opponents 13-4. The Stars are 30-14-2-4 against the West Division this season and 10-9-2-1 against the North Division this season. Texas is the least penalized team in the league accruing 12.82 penalty minutes a game. The Stars are 20-4-4-6 in one-goal games this year and 23-0-1-1 when leading after two periods of play this season.

The Wolves are 20-14-3-1 on the road this season and 6-3-0-1 in the last ten games played. The Wolves have a 3-3-0-0 record in the last six games. The club is currently in a stretch of three-games-in-three-nights that started in Houston on Thursday. The Wolves return home on Saturday to host the Aeros. Chicago has outscored its opponents 124-113 at home and has been outscored 127-122 on the road. The Wolves are 19-6-1-4 when they score first this season. The Wolves have scored the first goal a total of 30 times, the second lowest total in the AHL. The team is 19-22-2-2 when allowing the first goal. Despite a 16-7-1-2 mark against the North Division this season, Chicago is 22-21-2-4 in the West Division. The Wolves have 95 goals in the second period this season, the most in the AHL. Chicago is 18-9-3-6 in one-goal games this year.

Fabian Brunnstrom was traded by Dallas to Toronto the day after his fourth game against the Wolves in 2010-11. Brunnstrom is still the leading scorer in the series with three goals and four assists for seven points. Defenseman Maxime Fortunus and center Travis Morin are the Stars active leaders in the series for scoring. Fortunus has five assists and six points in five games. Morin has four assists and five points in four games played. Four other Stars skaters each have four points in the series. Texas goalie Richard Bachman is 4-0-0 with a 2.25 goals against average and a .940 save percentage. Brent Krahn is 1-0-0 with a 2.01 goals against average and a .909 save percentage.

Chicago Captain Jason Krog is tied for the series lead with four assists and five points against Texas. Center Jared Ross also has five points (1g-4a) in five games against the Stars. Defenseman Paul Postma and forward Darren Haydar each have three points in the series. Peter Mannino is 0-2-0 with a 3.02 goals against average and a .879 save percentage. Last year, Mannino went 2-1-1 with a 2.39 GAA and a .909 save percentage against Texas. Chicago goalie Edward Pasquale played in two games against Texas, going 0-2-0 with a 3.54 goals against average.

Stars Sign Schultz

The Texas Stars announced on Friday that the club has signed forward Stephen Schultz to an ATO (amateur tryout agreement).

The 23-year old rookie turns pro after a four-year career at Colorado College from 2007-11. The 5-foot-11, 190-pound forward posted WCHA highs as a senior this year, scoring 17 goals and totaling 45 points in 43 games played. In his final two years as a Tiger, Schultz set up 43 goals and totaled 65 points in 71 games. For his collegiate career, Schultz scored 36 goals and totaled 86 points in 127 contests. The rookie played with current Texas Stars goalie Richard Bachman and forward Scott McCulloch at Colorado College.

Lukowich Named Texas' 2010-11 IOA/American Specialty AHL Man of the Year

Cedar Park, TX - The Texas Stars are proud to announce that Brad Lukowich has been named the team's winner of the IOA/American Specialty AHL Man of the Year award for his outstanding contributions to the Central Texas community during the 2010-11 season.

Lukowich is now one of 30 finalists for the AHL's 2010-11 Yanick Dupre Memori award is named after the former Hershey Bears forward and AHL All-Star who died in 1997 following a 16-month battle with leukemia. The winner of the Yanick Dupre Memorial Award will be announced by the American Hockey League in the coming weeks.

Stars Hitting Stride

For the only the second time this season, the Stars have four straight wins. Over that span, the team has outscored its opponents 18-6. The Stars are six for 21 on the power play (28.6%) and 16-for-16 on the penalty kill. In the last four games, Greg Rallo has five goals and four assists for nine points, while also posting a +6. Colton Sceviour has four goals and four assists in his last four games. Seven skaters have at least one point per game over the last four contests. Defenseman Maxime Fortunus is a +7 over that span. In his last four starts, goalie Richard Bachman has gone 4-0-0-0 with a 1.25 goals against average and a .951 save percentage. He has stopped 102 of the last 107 shots he has faced.

What's Ahead:

DATE OPPONENT TIME TV/RADIO

Friday, April 1 vs. Chicago 7:30 PM 104.9 FM

Saturday, April 2 at Oklahoma City 7:05 PM 1530 AM

Sunday, April 3 vs. Rockford 5:00 PM 104.9 FM

Wednesday, April 6 at Peoria 7:05 PM 104.9 FM

* All times listed are central time

LAST GAME RECAP:

Grand Rapids 1 at Texas 5 4/1/11

The Texas Stars defeated the Grand Rapid Griffins 5-1 in front of 6,040 fans at Cedar Park Center Saturday night. Texas goalie Richard Bachman stopped 29 of 30 shots for the win, which extended the team's streak to a season-high four straight. Four Texas skaters had multi-point nights in the contest, led by Colton Sceviour's second straight three-point night. Forwards Greg Rallo, Francis Wathier and Ray Sawada each tallied two points, as the Stars improved to 21-10-3-3 at home this year. Grand Rapids goalie Jordan Pearce stopped 13 of 15 shots in the loss.

Grand Rapids 3 at Texas 5 3/25/11

The Texas Stars defeated the Grand Rapid Griffins 5-3 in front of 6,094 fans at Cedar Park Center Friday night. After initially giving up three goals to the Griffins, the Stars notched five unanswered goals to score the win. Right wing Colton Sceviour tallied two goals and an assist to lead the comeback. Forwards Aaron Gagnon, Greg Rallo and Mathieu Tousignant each supplied a goal for the Stars. Rallo and defenseman Maxime Fortunus each had multi-point nights in the win, improving Texas to 20-10-3-3 at home this season. Texas goalie Richard Bachman stopped 17 of 20 shots to preserve the win. Grand Rapids goalie Jordan Pearce stopped 33 shots in the loss.

The Texas Stars

After 73 games of action, right wing Greg Rallo leads the team in points with 52 (26g-26a). Ralllo also leads the team with 26 goals and 239 shots on net. He is tied for the league lead with seven game-winning goals and he ranks third for shots on goal. Center Travis Morin is second for Texas in scoring with 18 goals and 24 assists for 42 points in 57 games played. Morin returned to the lineup on March 7th after missing 14 games with an injury. Colton Sceviour is third on the team with 40 points and he is fourth with 25 assists in 71 games played. Dan Spang is fourth overall on the team with 36 points. He is tied for second on the team in assists (26), as well as leading all defensemen in goals (10) and shots on goal (159). Left wing Francis Wathier is second on the team with 18 goals and 163 shots in 61 games played. Defenseman Maxime Fortunus leads the team with 28 assists in 67 games played. Center Mathieu Tousignant leads the team with 109 penalty minutes.

Texas Stars goalies Richard Bachman and Tyler Beskorowany fill the net for the Stars. Bachman has appeared in 50 games, going 26-16-5 with a 2.20 goals against average and a .926 save percentage. Bachman ranks in the top ten in the AHL for goals against average and save percentage. Bachman has started 33 of the last 44 games. Overall, Beskorowany is 7-6-1 with a 2.51 goals against average and a .923 save percentage. 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.

Record Breaker

Rookie goalie Richard Bachman has set numerous team records this year. With 26 wins on the season, Bachman has passed Matt Climie's team record of 21 wins last season. The 23-year old Bachman has topped Brent Krahn's mark of five shutouts in 2009-10. Bachman recorded his sixth shutout of the season on March 22nd against Houston. His 50 appearances have surpassed Climie's record of 43 appearances in one year. Bachman also passed Climie's mark of 2,539 minutes played, seeing a total of 2,832 minutes in the Stars crease this year. The second-year pro and AHL rookie goalie is the Stars all-time leader in most goalie categories. Bachman is 30-19-5 all-time in 57 appearances with Texas. He has played 3,279 minutes, posting a 2.18 goals against average and a .927 save percentage with seven shutouts.

Rallo Closes in On Team Record

Texas right wing Greg Rallo is closing in on the team record for goals in one season. Rallo tallied his 26th goal of the year on Saturday night, pulling him within one goal of the team mark. Center Aaron Gagnon scored 27 goals in 78 games last season to set the current team mark. Rallo has already blown away the team mark for shots on goal in one season. Heading into this week's action, he was third overall in the AHL with 239 shots. In 2009-10, left wing Francis Wathier posted 159 shots on goal. Rallo is tied for the league lead with seven game-winning goals this season. The fifth-year pro has career highs for goals (26), assists (26) and points (52s). He is the only remaining skater to have suited up in all 73 games played this year. The fifth-year pro is second all-time among Texas skaters with 141 games played and first all-time with 44 goals. Rallo is tied with Travis Morin for the team's all-time lead with 94 points.

The Chicago Wolves

The Wolves return leading scorer and Captain Jason Krog, who assisted on 61 goals and totaled 75 points in 78 games played in 09-10. Heading into the season, Krog had 523 points in 455 regular season AHL games. In 58 games this season, Krog leads the team with 39 assists and is tied for the team lead with 51 points. He is currently third in the AHL with 50 assists in 75 games played.

A few former Wolves have returned to their former team, including high-scoring forward Darren Haydar, as well as winger Andre Deveaux. Haydar was just named to the AHL Second All-Star Team. He leads the Wolves with 25 goals and 70 points in 72 games played. Haydar tallied 122 points in 73 games with the Wolves in 2006-07. Deveaux scored 16 goals and totaled 41 points in 72 games with the Toronto Marlies last year. He is tied for second on the team with 20 goals this season.

Newcomer Jared Ross is third on the team with 54 points and tied for third on the team with 39 assists in 61 games played. Paul Postma leads all defensemen with 32 assists and 44 points in 68 games played.

In net, the Wolves are carrying two goalies with Peter Mannino and Edward Pasquale. So far this year, Mannino is 16-15-4 with a 3.06 goals against average and a .893 save percentage. Mannino went 26-5-1 with a 2.34 goals against average and a .921 save percentage last season. Pasquale is 10-9-1 with a 2.75 goals against average and a .907 save percentage.

Special Teams

After finishing second overall last season on the penalty kill, the Texas Stars penalty kill is 25th overall at 80.1%. The Stars have given up one power-play goal in the last ten games (36 of 37 or 97.3%). Texas ranks 20th best in the AHL, converting on 17.5% of its power plays. The Stars have nine power-play goals against the Wolves in 25 tries this season. The Wolves are third overall on the power play, converting 20.9% of the time, including seventh best on the road at 20.0% success rate. Chicago is 29th (2nd to last) overall on the penalty kill, stopping 78.0% of their opponents' power plays.

Offense and Defense

The Texas Stars are tied for seventh overall in team defense, allowing 2.64 goals against per game. Texas is ranked 19th out of 30 teams, scoring an average of 2.79 goals per game. Chicago's defense ranks 25th overall with a 3.20 goals against per game. The Wolves sit third offensively, averaging 3.28 goals per game.

Check out the Texas Stars Statistics

• Discuss this story on the American Hockey League message board...

American Hockey League Stories from April 1, 2011


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central