AHL Texas Stars

Gameday Preview - Texas at Houston

Published on December 21, 2011 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Texas Stars News Release


Texas Stars (12-14-0-1, 25 points) at Houston Aeros (16-5-2-7, 41 points)

The Texas Stars and the Houston Aeros meet for the seventh time this season and the 31st time in AHL history. The Stars and the Aeros will face off five more times this season, including four games at Cedar Park Center. The two teams last met on Friday, December 16, a 4-1 victory for the Aeros at the Toyota Center. The clubs played four games over a stretch of nine days in late November. The road team won all four games, with the Stars wins coming in overtime at Toyota Center. Houston leads the season series, posting a 4-0-2-0 mark against the Stars and recording a point in every game of the series. The Aeros lead the all-time series with a 17-10-3-0 record over three seasons against the Stars. Texas is 6-6-1-2 all-time at the Toyota Center and 13-13-2-2 all-time. Texas is 2-4-0-0 this season against Houston overall. Texas has played Houston more than any other team in AHL history. The 31 meetings all-time are five ahead of 26 all-time meetings with San Antonio. The Aeros currently sit in second place of the West Division, one point behind first-place Oklahoma City for the AHL's highest point total. The Stars are in fifth place of the West Division, three points behind San Antonio.

The Stars have five wins in their last ten games, going 5-5-0-0 over that span. The Stars dropped two of their three games over this past weekend. The Stars are coming off a 4-2 loss in San Antonio on Sunday. The Stars are 7-7-0-0 on the road this season, having been outscored by their opponents 43-39 on the scoreboard. Texas has won four of its last seven road games, but winless in their last two games away from home ice. The Stars are 5-10-0-1 against the West Division this season. The team is in the middle of a stretch where nine of their next ten games will be against division rivals. The Stars' next six games will be against division rivals. Texas' scoring has been spread out evenly this season, with 27 first-period tallies and 28 second-period markers. The Stars have been outscored in second period of play 31-28 and 83-80 overall. Texas is 12th in the league with a 3.00 goals per game average . In Saturday night's win, the team posted six goals for the first time since October 25th and five goals for the first time since October 30th. The team now has 39 goals over its last 16 games. The Stars are 9-1-0-1 when leading after two periods of play, but they are 0-13-0-0 when trailing after two periods of play. Texas leads the AHL with four overtime wins this season, going 4-0-0-1 when tied after regulation. The team surrendered a season-low 16 shots on Saturday night.

Houston leads the AHL with the fewest regulation losses (five) in the league. The Aeros (.683) trail only Oklahoma City (.733) for the best winning percentage in the league. The team has two wins in the last five games, but has still managed a point in four of the last five. In all, Houston has a win or a point in 25 of its 30 games played. The Aeros are coming off a 6-3 loss at home to Rochester last Sunday. The game ended a wicked stre tch of three games in three nights, which saw the Aeros play at home on Friday and in Oklahoma City on Saturday. The Aeros are winless in their last two games (0-1-0-1). Houston is 6-3-2-5 at home this season, having been outscored 45-43 by the visitor. The Aeros have lost five shootouts at home this season and the team has two wins in its last eight home contests. Houston has 13 goals in the last six games, falling to 13th in the AHL in goals per game average (2.93). Defensively, Houston ranks fourth overall in the league by allowing 2.50 goals per game. The Aeros have struggled to score in the first period of play, putting up 19 goals in their first 30 games. The team sits behind only Providence for the fewest of first-period goals in the AHL this season. Houston has 37 goals in the second period and 32 in the third. The team is second in the league for second-period scoring and is tied for second in third-period scoring. The Aeros have scored the first goal 14 times this season, posting a 12-2-0-1 mark when they get on the board first. The 2011 Western Conference champions rank 29th in the AHL with a 13.00 penalty minutes per game average. The Aeros are 7-2-2-4 against the West Division this year.

Through the first six games of the season series, Houston has outscored Texas 21-11. Texas is 5-for-26 (19.2%) on the power play and 19-for-22 (86.3%) on the penalty kill against Houston this year. Center Travis Morin leads all skaters in the season series with six assists in six games, tying him for the points lead in the series. Five other Stars skaters are tied for second in scoring against Houston with three points each. Aeros forward Jed Ortmeyer leads his team with four assists and six points in six games against the Stars. Teammate Chad Rau has four goals and five points in games versus Texas. Houston goalie Matt Hackett is 3-2-0 with a 1.97 goals against average and a .938 save percentage against Texas.

Hauswirth Added By Texas

The Texas Stars announced on Thursday that the Dallas Stars have reassigned right wing Jake Hauswirth from the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees of the Central Hockey League to the Texas Stars. The Dallas Stars are the NHL affiliate of Texas.

The Dallas Stars acquired Hauswirth in a trade with the Florida Panthers on December 7. Dallas sent forward Krys Barch to Florida in exchange for Hauswirth and a sixth-round pick. The 6-foot-5, 215-pound right wing is in his third pro season, spending the first two pro years in the ECHL with Cincinnati and South Carolina. Hauswirth played in 19 games with the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees of the CHL this season. The right wing has six goals and seven assists for 13 points in 19 games played. In all, the Merrill, WI native has played in 130 pro games, scoring 35 goals and totaling 75 points.

What's Ahead:

DATE OPPONENT TIME RADIO

Wednesday, December 21 at Houston 7:05 PM 104.9 FM

Tuesday, December 27 vs. San Antonio 7:30 PM 104.9 FM

Thursday, December 29 at Abbotsford 9:00 PM (CT) 92.5 FM

Friday, December 30 at Abbotsford 9:00 PM (CT) 92.5 FM

Friday, January 6 at San Antonio 7:00 PM 104.9 FM

* All times listed are central time

LAST THREE GAMES

Texas 2 at San Antonio 4 12/18/11

The Texas Stars were defeated by t he San Antonio Rampage 4-2 in front of 5,339 fans at AT&T Center on Sunday. Forward Bill Thomas led San Antonio to its third win over Texas, scoring twice and setting up one other for three points. San Antonio goalie Jacob Markstrom stopped 45 of 47 Stars shots, including 35 in the last two periods combined. Stars rookie forward Matt Fraser extended his points streak to seven games, scoring his team-leading 14th goal of the year. Forward Ondrej Roman also scored, as Texas fell to 7-7-0-0 on the road this season. Texas goalie Tyler Beskorowany stopped 29 shots in the defeat.

Rochester 2 at Texas 6 12/17/11

The Texas Stars defeated the Rochester Americans 6-2 in front of 5,754 fans at Cedar Park Center on Saturday night. Stars center Ryan Garbutt scored two goals and added two assists to lead Texas to a win. The Stars scored six unanswered goals, including four in the second period, improving to 5-7-0-1 at Cedar Park Center this season. The Stars also netted two shorthanded goals in the win. Defenseman Brenden Dillon notched a goal and an assist for Texas. Brad Lukowich, Francis Wathier and Mike Hedden also scored for the Stars, who received goals from five different skaters. Texas goalie Jimmy Spratt stopped 14 shots in his first AHL goaltending appearance. Two Rochester skaters registered multi-point nights. Defenseman T.J. Brennan and right wing Evan Rankin each had a goal and an assist. Rochester goalie Drew MacIntyre stopped 21 of 27 shots as the Americans fell to 2-8-4-0 on the road.

Texas 1 at Houston 4 12/16/11

The Texas Stars were defeated by the Houston Aeros 4-1 in front of 10,240 fans at the Toyota Center on Friday night. Goalie Matt Hackett stopped 29 of 30 Texas shots, including 16 in the second period, pushing Houston past Texas. Aeros Joel Broda, Matt Kassian, Chay Genoway and Chad Rau each scored, as Houston improved to 4-0-2-0 against Texas this season. Rookie Matt Fraser extended his scoring streak four games with the lone Texas goal. Stars goalie Tyler Beskorowany suffered the loss with 28 saves, as Texas fell to 7-6-0-0 on the road this season.

Texas Stars

Center Travis Morin and winger Matt Fraser lead Texas in scoring. Morin is the clubhouse leader with 22 assists and 26 points in his first 27 games played. He ranks in the top ten of the AHL for assists and he is among the AHL leaders with 11 power-play helpers. Morin recently ran a string of five straight road games with an assist. He has eight assists in his last 10 games played. Rookie forward Matt Fraser is second in scoring with 21 points in 27 games. He leads the team with 14 goals scored an d 100 shots on net. Fraser is tied for fourth in the AHL with seven power-play goals and he is seventh overall in the AHL in rookie scoring. Fraser has a seven-game scoring streak, potting five goals and eight points over that span.

Forwards Francis Wathier and Ryan Garbutt round out the top scoring forwards for Texas. For the season, Wathier has six goals and 11 assists for 17 points in 27 games played. Center Ryan Garbutt has 17 points (4g-13a) in 27 games. Garbutt leads Texas with 48 penalty minutes, followed by Luke Gazdic, who has 47 minutes in 27 games played. Garbutt leads Texas and is tied for third in the AHL with 19 minor penalties. Right wing Raymond Sawada is fifth overall in team scoring with six goals and ten assists for 16 points in 25 games played. Rookie forward Scott Glennie has seven points in his last ten games.

Jordie Benn leads all Texas defensemen in scoring with seven goals and 14 points in 27 games played. He ranks tied for second in goals scored and tied for 18th in points among all AHL defensemen. Veteran defenseman Dan Spang is tied for second among all Texas defenseman with 13 points off two goals and 11 assists in 27 games. Rookie Brenden Dillon (2-11-13) is tied with Spang in points and he is first among D-men with 32 penalty minutes. Defender Maxime Fortunus has eight points in 23 games, while Captain Brad Lukowich has seven points in 24 games played.

Goalies Tyler Beskorowany and Jimmy Spratt split time in net for Texas, while goalie Richard Bachman remains on recall to Dallas. Beskorowany is 4-8-0 with a 2.85 goals against average and a .898 save percentage. Since Bachman's recall, Beskorwany has started seven of the last eight games, going 3-4-0 with a 2.60 goals against average and a .901 save percentage. Spratt made his AHL debut on Saturday, netting his first AHL with 14 saves in a 6-2 win over Rochester.

Special Teams

The Stars have converted 28 of 135 power plays for a 20.7% conversion rate. The Stars have failed to register a power-play goal in 11 of their first 27 games. The team has experienced a bit of a slump on the extra-man advantage, going one for the last 29 power plays since December 3. Texas has scored more than one power-play goal nine times this season. The Stars are tied for fifth in the league with 28 power-play goals this season. The Stars have killed off 86 of the last 103 penalties (83.5%), ranking eighth overall on the penalty kill. The Stars have killed off 54 of the last 59 penalties (91.5%). The Aeros are 22nd overall in the AHL on the penalty kill, stopping 80.8% of their opponents' power plays. Overall, Houston ranks 18th best in the AHL after going 25-for-144 (17.4%). The Aeros have experienced the third most power plays in the AHL.

The Houston Aeros

The Aeros saw a coaching change this offseason. Mike Yeo was promoted to head coach of the Minnesota Wild after last year's Calder Cup Finals appearance. In his first year with Houston, Yeo posted a 46-28-1-5 mark and a berth to the Calder Cup Finals where the Aeros fell to the Binghamton Senators in six games.

Right wing Jon DiSalvatore returns for his third season in Houston. The Aeros captain leads the team with 24 points in 30 games played. DiSalvatore is second on the team with ten goals and he is second on the club with 14 assists. Center Casey Wellman is on recall to Minnesota, leaving behind a team-high 11 goals and 19 points. Veteran center Jeff Taffe leads the team with 16 assists and is second with 21 points. Taffe is among the league leaders with 11 power-play assists. He ranks in the top 20 of the league with 13 points on the power play this year. The Aeros top-scoring defenseman is Chay Genoway, who has 13 assists and 15 points in 29 games played. Former Star Warren Peters is currently on recall to the NHL's Minnesota Wild. Peters had seven goals and four assists in 20 games for Houston this season.

In goal, the Aeros feature Matt Hackett and rookie Darcy Kuemper. Hackett is 10-4-3 on the year, sporting a 2.26 goals against average and a .922 save percentage. Kuemper is 3-1-3 with a 1.72 goals against average and a .942 save percentage.

Check out the Texas Stars Statistics

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American Hockey League Stories from December 21, 2011


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