AHL Texas Stars

Gameday Preview - Grand Rapids at Texas

Published on March 26, 2011 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Texas Stars News Release


Texas and Grand Rapids meet for the sixth time this season and the 12th time in AHL history. Saturday, the two teams play the final game of six meetings this season. Texas claimed a 5-3 win Friday night at Cedar Park Center in the last meeting between the two clubs. Overall this season, Texas is 3-1-1-0 against the Griffins, who are 2-2-0-1 in the season series. The Griffins lead the all-time series with a 6-3-0-2 record against the Stars, including a 3-2-0-0 mark at Cedar Park Center.

Texas is 20-10-3-3 at Cedar Park Center this season and 6-3-0-1 in the last ten games. Seven of the last 15 games for Texas have gone into a shootout or overtime. Texas has collected points in seven of the last ten games. The team recently concluded a five-game road trip on Sunday, going 2-2-0-1 over the roadie. The club also wrapped up a stretch where 13 of 18 games were on the road, going 7-7-1-3. Texas began a four-game home stand Tuesday night against the Houston Aeros. The team will welcome Chicago next Friday to round out the home-stand. The Stars are 30-14-2-4 against the West Division this season and 9-9-2-1 against the North Division this season. The Griffins are the last North Division team the Stars will see during the regular season. Texas is the least penalized team in the league accruing 12.79 penalty minutes a game. The Stars are 20-4-4-6 in one-goal games this year and 22-0-1-1 when leading after two periods of play this season.

The Griffins have charged back into the North Division playoff race, currently sitting tied for third, six points behind first place Lake Erie and four points back of second place Manitoba. The Griffins are also tied for third with Hamilton and Toronto, while Abbotsford sits two points back of the pack. Grand Rapids is 17-13-1-3 on the road this season and 6-3-1-0 in the last ten games played. The team has posted a 3-2-1-0 mark over the last six road games. Over the last 16 games, the Griffins have been one of the better teams in the AHL, going 11-4-1-0. Grand Rapids is getting outscored 124-113 on home-ice, but the club has outscored their opponents 106-105 on the road. The Griffins are 17-10-0-4 against the North Division and 18-18-2-4 against the West Division this season. Grand Rapids is tenth overall in the league, averaging 18.62 minutes per game. The Griffins are 14-11-2-8 in one-goal games this season.

Texas forward Colton Sceviour leads all scorers with six points in the season series, composed of two goals and four assists. Right wing Greg Rallo is second with two goals and three assists for five points in five games. Griffins forward Ilari Filppula leads his club in the season series with four assists and five points in five games played. Grand Rapids defenseman Derek Meech leads the series with five assists in five games played. Captain Brad Lukowich (recalled to NHL Dallas), has four assists in four games for Texas.

Texas goalie Richard Bachman has appeared in three games against the Griffins this year, going 2-1-0 with a 2.87 goals against average and a .880 save percentage. Tyler Beskorowany is 1-1-0 with a 3.02 goals against average and a .931 save percentage. Griffins' goalie Jordan Pearce is 1-1-0 with a 3.21 goals against average and a .910 save percentage.

Dallas Recalls Lukowich

Cedar Park, TX - The Dallas Stars announced on Tuesday that the club has recalled defenseman Brad Lukowich from the Texas Stars, Dallas' primary affiliate in the American Hockey League (AHL), after he cleared re-entry waivers Tuesday morning.

Lukowich, 34, has skated in 67 games for the Texas Stars in 2010-11, tallying 27 points (4g, 23a) and 59 penalty minutes. He has dressed in 653 career NHL games, including 224 career games with Dallas from 1997-2002, posting 113 points (23g, 90a). The Cranbrook, BC, native helped Dallas win the Stanley Cup in 1999, playing in eight games during the playoffs, and won the Cup again in 2004 with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The 6-1, 200-pound defenseman played 13 games with Vancouver in 2009-10, collecting a goal and an assist. Lukowich spent part of last season with the Texas Stars during the club's inaugural season, skating in 29 games and recording 18 points (3g, 15a). He was signed as a free agent by Dallas on July 16, 2010.

Texas Signs Rookie Defenseman Brenden Dillon to ATO

Cedar Park, TX - The Texas Stars announced on Tuesday that the club has signed defenseman Brenden Dillon to an Amateur Tryout Agreement (ATO).

Dillon, a 20-year-old, recently finished his fourth season with the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Hockey League (WHL). The defenseman finished first on the team with 51 assists and was second on the club with 59 points in 72 games played this season. The 6-foot-2, 200-pounder was also second on the team with 139 penalty minutes. For his WHL career, Dillon played in 280 games scoring 11 goals and adding 83 assists for 94 points, to go along with 362 penalty minutes. He made his AHL and pro debut on Tuesday.

Texas Recalls Defenseman Monast From Idaho

Cedar Park, TX - The Texas Stars announced on Monday that defenseman Guillaume Monast has been reassigned to the Texas Stars (AHL) from the Idaho Steelheads (ECHL).

Guillaume Monast has one assist in ten games for Texas over three separate recalls from Idaho. He registered his first AHL point with the Stars this season at Lake Erie on Feb. 16. In 48 games for Idaho this year, Monast has one goal and seven assists while adding 38 penalty minutes. The Quebec native spent his rookie season with Idaho, setting up six goals in 68 games played, helping the Steelheads reach the 2010 Kelly Cup Finals. Monast attended training camp in Dallas and in Texas each of the last two years.

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 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.

Houston 0 at Texas 3 3/22/11

Cedar Park, TX - The Texas Stars defeated the Houston Aeros 3-0 in front of 6,863 fans at Cedar Park Center Tuesday night. Texas goalie Richard Bachman stopped all 20 shots faced for his sixth shutout of the year. Center Aaron Gagnon set up all three Texas goals in the win. Left Francis Wathier scored twice (ppg, shg) and Travis Morin also tallied a special team's goal on the night, as the Stars improved to 19-10-3-3 at home. Houston goalie Matt Hackett stopped 33 of 36 shots for the loss. The sellout crowd marked the fourth time this season the Stars have reached capacity at Cedar Park Center.

The Texas Stars

After 72 games of action, right wing Greg Rallo leads the team lead in points with 50 (25g-25a) in 72 games played. Ralllo also leads the team with 25 goals and 232 shots on net. He is tied for the league lead with seven game-winning goals and he ranks second for shots on goal. Center Travis Morin is second for Texas in scoring with 18 goals and 23 assists for 41 points in 56 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 37 points and he is tied for fifth with 23 assists in 70 games played. Dan Spang is fourth overall on the team with 36 points. He is second on the team in assists (26), as well as leading all defensemen in goals (10) and shots on goal (152). Left wing Francis Wathier is second on the team with 18 goals and 158 shots in 60 games played. Defenseman Maxime Fortunus leads the team with 27 assists in 66 games played. Center Mathieu Tousignant leads the team with 105 penalty minutes.

Texas Stars goalies Richard Bachman and Tyler Beskorowany fill the net for the Stars. Bachman has appeared in 49 games, going 25-16-5 with a 2.22 goals against average and a .925 save percentage. Bachman ranks in the top ten in the AHL for goals against average and save percentage. Bachman has started 32 of the last 43 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 25 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 Tuesday against Houston. His 49 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 29-19-5 all-time in 56 appearances with Texas. He has played 3,219 minutes, posting a 2.20 goals against average and a .926 save percentage with seven shutouts.

Milestones...

Texas center Travis Morin has five goals and seven points in his last six games, scoring his 100th pro goal at Manitoba last Friday. Greg Rallo picked up an assist on Tuesday night, the 100th of his pro career. Left wing Francis Wathier is expected to play in his 300th AHL game on Saturday night.

The Grand Rapids Griffins

Grand Rapids Head Coach Curt Fraser returns for his third year with the team and his 18th year as a head coach or assistant coach at the professional level. He played 14 years in the NHL for Vancouver, Chicago and Minnesota from 1978-1990. Grand Rapids returns 11 players from the 2009-10 team that finished 34-39-3-4 and seventh in the North Division.

Forward Ilari Filppula leads Grand Rapids in scoring with 62 points in 69 games played. He is fourth on the team with 20 goals and first with 42 assists. He has 18 assists and 20 points in his last 15 games played. Tomas Tatar is second on the team in scoring with 32 assists and 23 goals for 55 points in 63 games played. Right wing Francis Pare is third on the squad with 23 goals and 53 points in 73 games played this season. Pare has ten goals and 16 points in his last 16 games played. Longtime Griffin Jamie Tardiff rounds out the Griffins top scorers. Tardiff leads the team lead with 27 goals and is fourth in points with 51 points in 70 games played.

The Griffins made numerous additions this summer, including center Jamie Johnson and left wing Chris MInard. Johnson posted 71 points in 80 games with Rochester, while Minard scored 22 goals in only 40 games with Springfield (AHL) in 2009-10. Johnson missed Friday's game, serving the second game of a two-game suspension. He has 37 points in 71 games played this year. Rookie defenseman Brendan Smith was drafted by Detroit in the first round (27th overall) in 2007. In his first 57 AHL games, Smith leads all Griffins defenders with 20 assists and 32 points. Smith is out with an injury.

While Joey MacDonald is in the NHL with Detroit, the Griffins are using Jordan Pearce and David Brown in net. Pearce is 19-10-5 with a 2.93 goals against average and a .906 save percentage. Brown has no decisions, with a 3.00 goals against average and a .882 save percentage. He backed up Tyler Beskorowany in early December for a Texas road game in Rockford.

Special Teams

After finishing second overall last season on the penalty kill, the Texas Stars penalty kill is 25th overall at 79.8%. Texas ranks 19th best in the AHL, converting on 17.3% of its power plays. The Griffins are 11th overall on the power play, converting 18.6% of the time. Grand Rapids is 22nd overall on the penalty kill, stopping 81.4% of their opponents' power plays.

Offense and Defense

The Texas Stars are ninth overall in team defense, allowing 2.67 goals against per game. Texas is ranked 21st out of 30 teams, scoring an average of 2.76 goals per game. Grand Rapids defense ranks 23rd overall with a 3.14 goals against per game. The Griffins sit ninth offensively, averaging 3.00 goals per game.

Check out the Texas Stars Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



American Hockey League Stories from March 26, 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