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Texas Stars

Gameday Preview - San Antonio at Texas

March 4, 2011 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Texas Stars News Release


Texas and San Antonio meet for the ninth time this season and 21st time in history. The two teams played a total of 12 times last year with the Stars taking the season series by posting an 8-4-0-0 mark against the Rampage. The Stars have taken five of the eight games of the season series this year. The last meeting was on February 26th, a 3-2 shootout win for San Antonio at the AT&T Center. The two teams will meet a total of ten times this year. Texas is 13-5-0-2 all time against San Antonio, including an 8-1-0-1 mark at Cedar Park Center. The Stars are coming off a 5-3 loss at home to Abbotsford on Tuesday night. The Rampage edged the Heat in San Antonio 3-2 on Wednesday night.

Texas is 16-9-3-3 at Cedar Park Center this season and 3-4-1-2 in the last ten games. Texas is 9-6-1-3 in its last 19 meetings. Despite a five-game winless skid (0-2-1-2), Texas has collected points in six of the last eight games. The Stars began a five-game home stand on Sunday. Prior to the home stand, Texas wrapped up a season-long eight-game road trip on Saturday in San Antonio. The Stars posted a 3-3-1-1 record away from home. The Stars are 26-14-2-4 against the West Division this season and 6-7-2-1 against the North Division this season. Texas is the least penalized team in the league accruing 12.50 penalty minutes a game. The Stars are 18-2-4-5 in one-goal games this year.

The Rampage will start a six-game home stand on Saturday with Syracuse. The team is coming off back-to-back wins at home after the longest road trip of the season. The team went 4-5-0-0 during the annual Rodeo roadie. The nine-game, 22-day journey extended 10,710 miles with stops in Cleveland, Oklahoma City, Manitoba, Syracuse, Hamilton and Toronto. They dropped the last three games of the trip prior to heading home.

San Antonio is 16-14-2-0 on the road this year and 5-5-0-0 in the last ten games played. The Rampage are 6-0 in shootouts this season and have a 22-17-2-0 record against the West Division. The Rampage have scored the first goal of the game 22 times this season, the lowest total in the AHL. They have been outscored 64-45 in the first period of play, but have outscored their opponents 60-44 in the second period of play this season. San Antonio has allowed ten shorthanded goals this year, one of the highest totals in the league.

Through the first eight games of the series, right wing Greg Rallo leads all scorers with seven points and four goals. Texas center Travis Morin is second with five points off two goals and three assists. Stars Scott McCulloch, Dan Spang, Sean Backman, Francis Wathier, Aaron Gagnon, Philip Larsen and Brad Lukowich each have four points in the series. San Antonio's Alexandre Picard has four points in four games, including three assists. Defenseman Garrett Stafford, a former Star, has two goals and two assists for four points in five games against Texas. Brett MacLean has four points in seven games.

Texas goalie Richard Bachman is 3-1-1 with a 1.97 goals against average and a .931 save percentage with a shutout. Tyler Beskorowany is 0-0-1 with a 1.85 goals against average and a .935 save percentage. Brent Krahn went 2-0-0 with a 1.98 goals against average and a .930 save percentage. Former Texas goalie, Matt Climie is 3-4-0 with a 2.51 goals against average and a .920 save percentage for San Antonio. Climie has posted two shootout victories over Texas this season.

Texas Releases Derlago

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

Saturday, Mar. 5 vs. Houston 7:00 PM 104.9 FM

Monday, March 7 vs. Syracuse 11:00 AM 1530 AM

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

* All times listed are central time

GAME RECAPS:

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.

Oklahoma City 3 at Texas 2 SO 2/27/11

The Texas Stars were defeated by the Oklahoma City Barons 3-2 in a shootout on Sunday night in front of 5,545 fans at Cedar Park Center. Right wing Colin McDonald scored the decisive goal in the shootout to lift Oklahoma City over the Stars for the first in six games. Texas goalie Richard Bachman stopped 35 of 37 shots in regulation, helping the Stars salvage a point in the shootout defeat. Defenseman Trevor Ludwig and right wing Greg Rallo each scored in regulation, as the Stars fell to 0-1-1-2 in the last four games. Center Aaron Gagnon had a multi-point night with two assists to spark a Stars two-goal rally. Oklahoma City goalie Bryan Pitton (3-1-0) stopped 29 shots in regulation and four of five to preserve the shootout win.

Texas 2 at San Antonio 3 SO 2/26/11

The Texas Stars were defeated by the San Antonio Rampage 3-2 in a shootout on Saturday night in front of 10,447 fans at the AT&T Center. The Rampage trailed 2-0 in the first two rounds of the shootout, but managed three shootout goals in the last five attempts to nip the Stars in the extra session. Forward Luke Gazdic and defenseman Dan Spang each scored regulation goals as Texas finished its eight-game road trip at 3-3-1-1. San Antonio goalie Matt Climie stopped 24 of 26 in regulation and five of seven shootout attempts for the victory. Texas goalie Tyler Beskorowany made 29 saves in regulation and stopped four of seven attempts in the shootout defeat.

The Texas Stars

After 62 games of action, right wing Greg Rallo leads the team lead in points with 38 (18g-19a) in 62 games played. Ralllo also leads the team with 19 goals and 184 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 12 games with an injury. Dan Spang is third overall on the team with 32 points. He leads the team lead in assists (23), as well as all defensemen in goals (9) and shots on goal (136). Colton Sceviour is sixth on the team with 18 assists and fourth with 30 points in 60 games played. Left wing Francis Wathier is second on the team with 16 goals and 143 shots in 53 games played. Defenseman Brad Lukowich is tied for second on the team with 21 assists. Left wing Luke Gazdic leads the team with 91 penalty minutes.

Texas Stars goalies Richard Bachman and Tyler Beskorowany fill the net for the Stars. Bachman has appeared in 41 games, going 21-14-4 with a 2.30 goals against average and a .924 save percentage. Bachman ranks in the top ten in the AHL for goals against average and save percentage. Bachman has started 26 of the last 33 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 1.93 goals against average and stopped 307 of 325 shots (.945 %) in his last ten appearances (5-3-1) with Texas this year. Overall, Beskorowany is 5-5-1 with a 2.30 goals against average and a .924 save percentage.

The San Antonio Rampage

San Antonio starts its first full season with Ray Edwards as head coach, who took over for Greg Ireland 18 games into last season. Edwards went on to post a 30-23-0-9 record in the final 62 games of the year.

The Rampage are without two of the teams top six scorers, including center Andrew Ebbett and left wing Mikkel Boedker. Right wing Brett MacLean leads the team with 23 goals and 50 points in 51 games played. Ebbett was second on the team with 38 points in 37 games played, including a team-high 27 helpers. Boedker had 22 assists and 34 points in 36 games played.

Two former Texas Stars are the active leaders among Rampage skaters. Garrett Stafford leads all defensemen with 26 assists and is second on the team with 38 points in 48 games played. The former Star is ninth among all AHL defenseman in scoring. Right wing Mathieu Beaudoin has 14 goals and 37 points in 43 games played. Left wing Alexandre Picard leads all skaters with 19 goals and sits third with 34 points in 39 games played.

In net, the Rampage pair Matt Climie and Joe Fallon. Climie went 21-17-3 with a 2.46 goals against average and a .919 save percentage in 43 games with Texas in 2009-10. Climie is 22-16-0 with a 2.46 goals against average and a .921 save percentage. He has three shutouts and is a perfect 5-0 in shootouts this year. Fallon is 2-1-0 with a 2.27 goals against average and a .909 save percentage.

Special Teams

After finishing second overall last season on the penalty kill, the Stars rank 27th overall at 78.0%. Texas sits 19th in the AHL, converting 17.2% of its power plays. San Antonio is second overall on the power play, converting 22.6% of the time. San Antonio is 26th in the AHL on the penalty kill, stopping 78.8% of its opponents' power plays.

Offense and Defense

The Texas Stars are 12th overall in team defense, allowing 2.74 goals against per game. Texas is ranked 19th out of 30 teams, scoring an average of 2.73 goals per game. San Antonio's defense ranks 17th overall with a 2.87 goals against per game. The Rampage sits tenth offensively, averaging 3.08 goals per game.

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