AHL Texas Stars

Gameday Preview - Texas at Chicago

Published on February 19, 2011 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Texas Stars News Release


Texas and Chicago meet for fifth time this season and the 13th all-time regular season meeting. Texas has taken all four meetings this season, including the last meeting, a 4-2 win at Allstate Arena over Chicago on January 12th. Texas has outscored Chicago 19-9 in the season series. The Stars are 8-3-1-0 all time against the Wolves. The two teams will meet for the final time in the regular season on April 1st at Cedar Park Center. Texas is coming off a 3-2 shootout win at Grand Rapids on Friday night. Chicago is coming off a 4-3 win in Rockford on Friday evening.

Texas is 14-11-0-1 away from Cedar Park Center this season and 5-4-0-1 in the last ten games. The Stars are playing the fourth of eight straight road games, the longest road trip of the season. Texas ended a two-game slide on Friday in Grand Rapids, taking its first win of the road trip. The Stars are in the middle of three games in three nights, with the final game of that stretch on Sunday in Milwaukee. Of the eight games, the first three were against the North Division and the last five are against the West Division. The Stars are 24-13-1-2 against the West Division this season and 6-6-2-1 against the North Division this season. Texas is the least penalized team in the league accruing 12.00 penalty minutes a game. The Stars are 16-2-3-3 in one-goal games this year.

The Wolves are 12-10-0-4 on home ice this season and 5-4-0-1 in the last ten games played. They have three straight wins (all road) heading into Saturday night's game and four wins in the last five. The Wolves have only one win in their last four home games. Chicago has outscored its opponents 91-85 at home and has been outscored 106-98 on the road. The Wolves are 14-6-1-3 when they score first this season. Despite a 14-7-1-2 mark against the North Division this season, Chicago is 15-16-1-2 in the West Division. The Wolves have 75 goals in the second period this season, the most in the AHL. Chicago is 13-6-2-4 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 was the leading scorer in the series with three goals and four assists for seven points versus Chicago. Defenseman Maxime Fortunus and center Travis Morin are the Stars active series leaders in scoring with four assists and five points each in four games. Defenseman Dan Spang has a goal and three assists for four points. Texas goalie Richard Bachman is 3-0-0 with a 2.33 goals against average a .933 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 he leads the Wolves in points with four against Texas. Center Jared Ross is second on the team with three points (1g-2a) against the Stars. Four other Wolves have two points in the season series.

Goalie Drew MacIntyre is 0-1-0 with a 10.50 goals against average with a .750 save percentage in the season series. Peter Mannino is 0-1-0 with a 3.01 goals against average and a .871 save percentage. Last year, Mannino went 2-1-1 with a 2.39 GAA and a .909 save percentage against Texas. Drew MacIntyre went 2-1-0 with a 2.86 goals against average and a .886 save percentage. Chicago goalie Edward Pasquale played in two games against Texas, going 0-2-0 with a 3.54 goals against average.

Texas Recalls Defenseman Guilluame Monast

Prior to the Wednesday's game, Texas added defenseman Guillaume Monast, who was recalled from the Idaho Steelheads, Texas' ECHL Affiliate. Monast has played in five games with one assist for Texas over three separate recalls from Idaho. He registered his first AHL point with the Stars this season at Lake Erie. In 41 games for Idaho this year, Monast has one goal and seven assists while adding 22 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.

Dallas Assigns Wathier, Recalls Ludwig and Petersen

The Dallas Stars announced on Tuesday that the NHL club has recalled forward Toby Petersen from his conditioning assignment with the Texas Stars, Dallas' primary affiliate in the American Hockey League (AHL), and activated him from injured reserve after missing the last 15 games with a lower-body injury. The team has also assigned forward Francis Wathier to Texas and recalled defensemen Trevor Ludwig from Texas.

Petersen, 32, has skated in 36 games this season for Dallas, collecting one goal (shorthanded) and two assists with six penalty minutes. In one game this season with Texas on a conditioning assignment, Petersen recorded one assist against Lake Erie on Feb. 14. The 5-10, 198-pound forward has played in 177 games over four seasons with Dallas, recording 32 points (14 goals, 18 assists).

Wathier, 26, has appeared in three games for Dallas this season. He has also played in 46 AHL games for Texas, recording 24 points (13 goals, 11 assists). Wathier represented Texas at the AHL All-Star Game on Jan. 31 in Hershey, Penn. The 6-3, 208-pound winger was Dallas' sixth round selection (185th overall) in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.

Ludwig, 25, has appeared in 50 games this season with Texas and has recorded six assists and 50 penalty minutes. The 6-1, 216-pound defensemen from Rhinelander, WI, spent the majority of the 2009-10 season with Texas, playing 47 games and collecting eight points (3 goals, 5 assists) with 62 penalty minutes. Ludwig has yet to make his NHL debut.

What's Ahead:

DATE OPPONENT TIME TV/RADIO

Sunday, Feb. 20 at Milwaukee 5:00 PM 104.9 FM

Wednesday, Feb. 23 at Peoria 7:05 PM 104.9 FM

Friday, Feb. 25 at Houston 7:35 PM 1530 AM

Saturday, Feb. 26 at San Antonio 7:00 PM 104.9 FM

Sunday, Feb. 27 vs. Oklahoma City 5:00 PM 104.9 FM

* All times listed are central time

GAME RECAPS:

Texas 3 at Grand Rapids 2 SO 2/18/11

The Texas Stars defeated the Grand Rapids Griffins 3-2 in a shootout on Friday night in front of 8,509 fans at Van Andel Arena. Texas goalie Richard Bachman (20-12-3) made 35 saves in regulation and stopped all five attempts in the shootout to lift the Stars over the Griffins. Forward Brandon Segal and defenseman Dan Spang each scored in regulation as the Stars improved to 14-11-0-1 on the road this season. Left wing Francis Wathier netted the decisive goal in the shootout. Grand Rapids forwards Tomas Tatar and Jamie Johnson both scored in the loss. Griffins' goalie Jordan Pearce (8-5-4) stopped 29 in regulation and four of five in the shootout defeat.

Texas 2 at Lake Erie 4 2/16/11

Cleveland, OH - The Texas Stars were defeated by the Lake Erie Monsters 4-2 on Wednesday afternoon in front of 7,510 fans at the Quicken Loans Arena. Lake Erie right wing Matt Ford scored twice and added an assist to pace the Monsters to their 12th win in the last 15 games. Monsters goalie Jason Bacashihua stopped 29 of 31 Stars shots for the victory. Texas goalie Brent Krahn (6-6-0) stopped 32 of 36 shots in the defeat. Texas forwards Michael Neal and Dave Bonk each scored as the team slid to 13-11-0-1 on the road this season.

Texas 2 at Lake Erie 3 2/14/11

Cleveland, OH - The Texas Stars were defeated by the Lake Erie Monsters 3-2 on Monday night in front of 3,058 fans at Quicken Loans Arena. Monsters goalie Jason Bacashihua stopped 32 of 34 Stars shots as Lake Erie held on for the victory. Lake Erie's Ryan Stoa scored a power-play goal with 4:01 left in regulation for the eventual game-winning goal. Texas goalie Richard Bachman stopped 24 of 27 shots in the loss. Stars defenseman Dan Spang and center Dave Bonk each tallied a goal in the defeat, as Texas fell to 13-10-0-1 on the road. The loss marked only the second time all season in which the Stars dropped a one-goal game in regulation.

The Texas Stars

After 55 games of action, right wing Greg Rallo leads the team lead in points with 35 (16g-19a) in 55 games played. Ralllo also leads the team with 16 goals and 165 shots on net. Center Travis Morin is second for Texas in scoring with 13 goals and a team-high 21 assists for 34 points in 48 games played. Morin has missed the last five games with an injury. Colton Sceviour is fifth on the team with 18 assists and third with 28 points in 53 games played. Dan Spang is fourth overall on the team with 27 points. Spang is tied for third on the team in assists (19), as well as leads all defensemen in goals (8) and shots on goal (122). Defenseman Brad Lukowich is second on the team with 20 assists. Left wing Luke Gazdic's 81 penalty minutes lead the team.

Texas Stars goalies Richard Bachman and Brent Krahn fill the net for the Stars. Bachman has appeared in 37 games, going 20-12-3 with a 2.18 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 22 of the last 27 games. Krahn has appeared in 12 games, posting a 6-6-0 mark, a 3.20 goals against average and a .895 save percentage. Krahn was out with an injury from Nov. 10, 2010 to Feb. 4, 2011.

Bachman Closes In On Team Records

Rookie goalie Richard Bachman is poised to set new team records this season. With 20 wins on the season, Bachman needs one more win to tie Matt Climie for the team record of 21 wins in one season. The 23-year old netminder also needs one more shutout to tie Brent Krahn's mark of five donuts in 2009-10. Bachman is six appearances away from tying Climie's record of 43 appearances in one year and he is also 364 minutes shy of setting the team mark for minutes played by a goalie.

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.

Left wing Nigel Dawes was recently recalled by the NHL's Atlanta Thrashers after leading the team with 25 goals and placing fourth with 42 points in 46 games played. Dawes ranked fourth in the AHL with 25 goals. Newcomer Jared Ross is third on the team with 45 points and tied for second on the team with 31 assists in 53 games played. Paul Postma leads all defensemen with 29 assists and 37 points in 56 games played.

A few former Wolves have returned to their old team, including high-scoring forward Darren Haydar, as well as winger Andre Deveaux. Haydar tallied 122 points in 73 games with the Wolves in 2006-07. He is tied for the team lead in points with 51 and tied for second on the team with 31 helpers. He also is the active team-leader with 20 goals in 55 games played. Deveaux scored 16 goals and totaled 41 points in 72 games with the Toronto Marlies last year. He is third on the team with 17 goals this season.

In net, the Wolves are carrying two goalies with Peter Mannino and Drew MacIntyre. So far this year, Mannino is 14-13-3 with a 3.05 goals against average and a .895 save percentage. Mannino went 26-5-1 with a 2.34 goals against average and a .921 save percentage last season. MacIntyre is 10-5-1 with a 3.01 goals against average and a .903 save percentage. In 2009-10, MacIntyre went 20-17-2 with a 2.54 goals against average and a .917 save percentage.

Special Teams

After finishing second overall last season on the penalty kill, the Texas Stars penalty kill is 27th overall at 77.8%. Texas ranks 17th best in the AHL, converting on 17.3% of its power plays. The Stars have eight power-play goals against the Wolves in 19 tries this season. The Wolves are third overall on the power play, converting 22.4% of the time, including second best at home with a 24.4% success rate. Chicago is 30th (last) overall on the penalty kill, stopping 75.9% of their opponents' power plays.

Offense and Defense

The Texas Stars are ninth overall in team defense, allowing 2.68 goals against per game. Texas is ranked 17th out of 30 teams, scoring an average of 2.76 goals per game. Chicago's defense ranks 27th overall with a 3.30 goals against per game. The Wolves sit sixth offensively, averaging 3.25 goals per game.

Check out the Texas Stars Statistics

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American Hockey League Stories from February 19, 2011


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