AHL Texas Stars

Gameday Preview - Rockford at Texas

Published on January 8, 2012 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Texas Stars News Release


Rockford IceHogs (12-19-1-3, 28 points) at Texas Stars (15-16-0-2, 32 points)

The Texas Stars and the IceHogs meet for the third time this season. This marks the 17th all-time meeting between the two teams that will play a total of four games this season. Texas leads the season series by taking the first two games of the series, including Saturday night's 4-2 win at home. The Stars claimed the first meeting of the season with a 6-2 win at Rockford in late October. The last two games of the season series will be played in January. The Stars and Hogs will conclude the season series in Rockford on Monday, January 16th. The Stars lead the all-time series with an 11-5-0-0 record against the Hogs, including a 5-3-0-0 mark at Cedar Park Center.

The Stars have five wins in their last ten games, going 5-4-0-1 over that span. Texas recently finished a three-game road trip that saw the team lose all three. Texas ended its three-game winless drought with a win at home on Saturday. The Stars are 7-7-0-1 at home this season, having outscored their opponents 48-44 on the scoreboard. Texas has taken four of the last five home games. The Stars are 7-12-0-2 against the West Division this season. The team recently concluded a stretch where nine of ten games were against division rivals. Texas was 3-5-0-1 in the last nine divisional games. The Stars are 5-4-0-0 against the Midwest Division this year. Texas' scoring has been spread out evenly this season, with 32 first-period tallies and 37 second-period markers. The Stars have been even for second-period scoring with 37 goals per side. The Stars have been outscored 100-97 overall. Texas is 12th in the league with a 2.94 goals per game average. The team has 53 goals over its last 21 games. Texas ranks 24th defensively with a 3.03 goals against average. The Stars are 11-0-0-1 when leading after two periods of play, but they are 1-14-0-0 when trailing after two periods of play. The team is 7-7-0-2 in games decided by one goal this season. Texas leads the AHL with five overtime wins this season, going 5-0-0-2 when tied after regulation. The Stars are tied for second in the AHL with six shorthanded goals this season.

Rockford visits Cedar Park for the first and only time this season. The Hogs loss at Texas on Saturday night was then team's fifth in the last seven outings. Rockford ended a 0-4-0-1 drought with a 4-1 win in Houston on Friday night. The Hogs are now 2-6-0-2 in the last ten games played. Rockford is 6-8-1-2 on the road this season, outscoring their opponents 67-56 away from home ice. The club is 6-6-0-2 when scoring first this season and 6-13-1-1 when allowing the game's opening goal. The IceHogs are 3-6-0-0 against the West Division this season. Rockford has allowed a league-high 46 first-period goals. The Hogs have been outscored in every period this season. Their closest goal margin is in the second period, where the team has been outscored 36-31. The club has been outscored 44-38 in the third period of play this season. Rockford is 4-2-0-0 when leading after the first and 10-1-0-1 when leading after the second. Rockford is 0-16-1-0 when trailing after two periods of play. The team is 5-13-1-1 when they outshoot their opponents. The IceHogs rank eighth best in the league offensively with 3.06 goals per game average. Rockford ranks last of 30 AHL teams with a 3.71 goals against average.

Matt Fraser Named AHL All-Star

The American Hockey League announced on Wednesday that Texas right wing Matt Fraser has been named to the 2012 Western Conference All Star Team.

Fraser leads Texas with 18 goals scored, placing him fourth best in the AHL. Fraser is second on the Stars with 27 points in 33 games played. He ranks second overall in the league in goals by a rookie and he is tied for fifth overall in points by a rookie. Fraser's eight power-play goals are tied for first among rookies and his 121 shots are best among first-year players. The Red Deer, AB, native set a Texas record with a ten-game points streak from Dec. 3 to Dec. 29. Over the ten-game streak, Fraser scored seven goals and added five assists for 12 points.

Fraser turned pro after playing in 265 WHL games for Red Deer and Kootenay from 2006-11. Over the course of five WHL seasons, he netted 87 goals and set up 87 others to total 174 points. His best season came in 2010-11, where the 21-year old scored 36 goals and totaled 74 points in 66 games played. Fraser powered Kootenay in the playoffs, potting 17 goals and 27 points in 19 playoff games.

Benn Heads to Dallas, Dillon Returns and Berube Added

The Stars saw plenty of transactions over the last week, starting with defenseman Jordie Benn's call up to Dallas on Sunday. Dallas also called up defenseman Brenden Dillon on Monday, than reassigned the rookie back to Texas on Wednesday. Texas also signed defenseman Mike Berube to a PTO on Wednesday.

Benn, 24, co-leads all Texas defensemen in scoring, with seven goals and eight assists for 15 points in 31 games. Four of his seven goals have come on the power play. Jordie Benn is the older brother of current Stars forward Jamie Benn. The 6-0, 205-pound defenseman from Victoria, BC, made his NHL debut on Tuesday night, a 5-4 loss for Dallas at home to Detroit. Benn and his brother Jamie each registered an assist on the Stars first goal of the game. Jordie Benn signed a one-year free agent contract with Dallas on July 1, 2011. He played in 60 games for the Texas Stars last season, scoring two goals and 10 assists for 12 points with 39 penalty minutes.

Dillon was called up to Dallas, but never got to make his NHL debut prior to his re-assignment to Texas. The 21-year old has played in 33 games for Texas, scoring two goals and 11 assists for 13 points and 36 penalty minutes. He was signed to a three-year contract as a free agent on March 3, 2011. The 6-2, 198-pound defenseman played in 72 games with the Seattle Thunderbirds of the WHL last season, scoring eight goals and 51 assists for 59 points.

Berube comes to Texas from the Allen Americans, Texas' Central Hockey League affiliate. The defenseman has two goals and nine points in 29 games with Allen this season. In 2009-10, Berube played for the Hartford Wolf Pack, going scoreless in four AHL games. The Edmonton, AB, native is in his third pro season, suiting up in 164 pro games between Allen, Hartford and Charlotte (ECHL). The 6-foot-1, 215-pounder played his junior hockey in the WHL for Vancouver, Red Deer and Prince George.

What's Ahead:

DATE OPPONENT TIME RADIO

Sunday, January 8 vs. Rockford 5:00 PM 104.9 FM

Wednesday, January 11 vs. Abbotsford 7:30 PM 104.9 FM

Friday, January 13 at Grand Rapids 6:00 PM (CT) 92.5 FM

Saturday, January 14 at Milwaukee 7:00 PM 92.5 FM

Monday, January 16 at Rockford 1:00 PM 92.5 FM

* All times listed are central time

LAST THREE GAMES

Rockford 2 at Texas 4 1/7/12

The Texas Stars defeated the Rockford IceHogs 4-2 in front of 5,626 fans at the Cedar Park Center on Saturday night. Three Texas skaters had multi-point nights as the Stars improved to 7-7-0-1 at home. Defenseman Brad Lukowich notched a goal and two assists while right wing Colton Sceviour added three assists. Left wing Francis Wathier registered a goal and an assist for Texas. IceHogs' defenseman Dylan Olsen put up two assists on the night. Texas goalie Andrew Raycroft ( 1-0-1) stopped 25 of 27 shots in his first Texas win of the season. Rockford goalie Alex Richards (6 -10-2) stopped 27 of 30 shots as the IceHogs fell to 6-8-1-2 on the road.

Texas 3 at San Antonio 4 SO 1/6/12

The Texas Stars were defeated by the San Antonio Rampage 4-3 in a shootout in front of 7,867 fans at the AT&T Center on Friday night. San Antonio went three for three in the shootout, while the Stars failed to tally a shootout goal in the defeat. San Antonio goalie Dov Grumet-Morris (6-3-0) stopped 31 of 34 in regulation and three of three in the shootout win. Texas goalie Andrew Raycroft (0-0-1) stopped 27 of 30 in regulation and failed to make a save on three shootout attempts. Stars forwards Colton Sceviour, Matt Fraser and Eric Godard each scored in regulation, as the club moved to 8-9-0-1 on the road this season. Rampage forward Tim Kennedy scored two of his team's three power-play goals.

Texas 1 at Abbotsford 2 12/30/11

The Texas Stars were defeated by t he Abbotsford Heat 2-1 in front of 3,271 fans at the Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre on Friday night. Abbotsford goalie Danny Taylor stopped 32 Stars shots, including 21 in the final two periods to preserve the win. Left wing Lance Bouma gave the Heat a 2-1 lead at 5:32 of the third period, scoring the eventual game-winning goal. Texas goalie Jimmy Spratt stopped 26 shots in the loss. Forward Stephen Schultz scored the Stars' lone goal in the defeat, as Texas dropped to 8-9-0-0 on the road this season.

Texas Stars

Center Travis Morin and winger Matt Fraser lead Texas in scoring. Morin is the clubhouse leader with 26 assists and 30 points in his first 33 games played. He ranks in the top ten of the AHL for assists and he is among the AHL leaders with 12 power-play helpers. He has eight assists in his last 10 games played. Rookie forward Matt Fraser is second in scoring with 27 points in 33 games. He leads the team with 18 goals scored and 121 shots on net. Fraser is tied for second in the AHL with eight power-play goals and he is tied for fifth overall in the AHL in rookie scoring. He ranks second among all first-year skaters with 18 goals and he is first in shots on goal by a rookie. Fraser had a ten-game scoring streak end last Friday in Abbotsford. The run was the longest scoring streak in team history.

Forwards Francis Wathier and Ryan Garbutt round out the top scoring forwards for Texas. For the season, Wathier has seven goals and 13 assists for 20 points in 33 games played. Wathier leads the team with a +7. Center Ryan Garbutt has 21 points (7g-14a) in 33 games. Garbutt is tied with left wing Luke Gazdic for the team lead in penalty minutes at 57 per skater. Garbutt is tied for the AHL lead with three shorthanded assists this year. With three points on Saturday night, Colton Sceviour has collected nine points in his last ten games, scoring four goals and setting up five others. Left wing Eric Godard played in his 300th AHL game on Saturday night.

Veteran defenseman Dan Spang leads all Texas defenseman with 15 points off two goals and 13 assists in 33 games. Rookie Brenden Dillon (2-11-13) is second in points and he is first among D-men with 36 penalty minutes. Veteran defenders Maxime Fortunus and Brad Lukowich both have 11 points in 29 games. Fortunus played in his 600th pro game on Friday night in San Antonio. Lukowich has five points in his last eight games. The 16-year pro is five games away from playing in his 1,000th pro game.

Goalies Tyler Beskorowany, Andrew Raycroft and Jimmy Spratt split time in net for Texas. Raycroft picked up his first win with Texas on Saturday night. He is 1-0-1 with a 2.40 goals against average and a .912 save percentage in two starts for the Stars. Beskorowany is 6-9-0 with a 2.89 goals against average and a .897 save percentage. Spratt is 1-1-0 with a 2.02 goals against average and a .909 save percentage.

Special Teams

The Stars have converted 31 of 157 power plays for a 19.7% conversion rate, as Texas ranks 10th overall in power play percentage. The team had experienced a bit of a slump on the extra-man advantage, going two for the last 48 power plays from December 3 - January 6. Texas has three power-play goals in the last three games, going 3-for-13 over that span. The Stars have killed off 110 of 132 opponents' power plays (83.3%), ranking ninth overall on the penalty kill. The Stars have killed off 72 of the last 81 penalties (88.9%). The IceHogs are 30th in the AHL on the penalty kill, stopping 75.3% of their opponents' power plays. Overall, Rockford ranks 20th in the AHL on the power play after going 28-for-170 (16.5%).

The Rockford IceHogs

Center Brandon Pirri leads Rockford in scoring with a team-high 14 goals and 33 points in 33 games played. He also leads the team with 106 shots on goal. Defenseman Brian Connelly is second on the Hogs in scoring. He leads the team with 26 assists, including a team-high 11 power-play assists. Connelly ranks among the top scoring defenseman, sitting second overall in points and placing second in assists.

Former Texas Stars forward Brandon Segal is back in Rockford after playing for the Hogs in 2004-05. Segal suited up in 30 games for Texas last year, scoring seven goals and totaling 17 points. The right wing also played in 46 games for Dallas in 2010-11, scoring five goals and adding five more for a total of ten points. Segal signed a free-agent contract with the Chicago Blackhawks for the 2011-12 season. Among active Rockford skaters, he is currently second on the team with 11 goals and fifth overall with 20 points in 35 games played. He is also among the worst of the Hogs with a -11 rating. The IceHogs also return left wing Jeremy Morin, a second-round pick of Atlanta (#45 overall) in 2009. Morin has 21 points in 29 games this season. Winger Brandon Bolig is among the AHL leaders with 12 major penalties and 112 penalty minutes in 32 games played.

Rockford features goalies Alexander Salak, Carter Hutton and Alec Richards. Salak is 3-6-0 with a 3.06 goals against average and a .893 save percentage. Hutton is 3-4-1 with a 3.39 goals against average and a .893 save percentage. Richards is 6-10-2 with a 3.62 goals against average and a .894 save percentage.

Check out the Texas Stars Statistics

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American Hockey League Stories from January 8, 2012


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