AHL Texas Stars

Gameday Preview - Texas at Houston

Published on February 2, 2012 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Texas Stars News Release


Texas Stars (20-20-1-2, 43 points) at Houston Aeros (21-11-3-9, 54 points)

The Texas Stars and the Houston Aeros meet for the ninth time this season and the 33rd time in AHL history. The Stars and the Aeros will face off three more times this season, including two games at Cedar Park Center. The two teams last met on Saturday, January 21, a 4-3 shootout victory for the Stars at home. The road team has taken six of the eight previous games in the series. Houston leads the season series, posting a 4-1-2-1 mark against the Stars. The Aeros lead the all-time series with a 17-11-3-1 record over three seasons against the Stars. Texas is 7-6-1-2 all-time at the Toyota Center and 15-13-2-2 all-time. Texas is 4-4-0-0 this season against Houston overall. Texas has played Houston more than any other team in AHL history. The 33 meetings all-time are four ahead of the 29 all-time meetings with San Antonio. The Aeros currently sit in second place of the West Division, six points behind first-place Oklahoma City. The Stars are four points back of Peoria for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

The Stars have five wins in their last ten games, going 5-4-1-0 over that span. The Stars dropped a pair of road games prior to the All-Star Game, including their last meeting, a 3-1 loss at Oklahoma City last Saturday. Texas will conclude a three-game road swing in Houston, before hitting the ice at Cedar Park Center against Charlotte on Saturday. The Stars begin a three-game home stand with Charlotte and host Milwaukee next Tuesday and Wednesday. The Stars are 10-13-0-1 on the road this season, having been outscored by their opponents 76-63 on the scoreboard. The team has two road wins in the last nine attempts. The Stars are 9-14-0-2 against the West Division this season. Texas' scoring has been spread out evenly this season, with 39 first-period tallies and 52 second-period markers. Since Dec. 3 (last 23 games), Texas has outscored the opposition 34-19 in the second period after getting outscored in the middle frame 26-18 in the previous 20 games. The Stars lead the opposition in second-period scoring with a 52-46 edge. The club has been outscored by the opposing team 132-128 for the season. Texas is tenth in the league with a 2.98 goals per game average and it ranks 25th defensively with a 3.07 goals against average. The Stars are 14-0-1-1 when leading after two periods of play, but they are 2-18-0-0 when trailing after two periods of play. The team is 10-8-1-2 in games decided by one goal this season. Texas leads the AHL with five overtime wins this season, going 5-0-1-2 when tied after regulation. The Stars are tied for third in the AHL with nine shorthanded goals this season.

Houston is tied with Oklahoma City and St. John's for the fewest regulation losses (11) in the league. The Aeros are 3-4-1-2 in the last ten games and the club is winless in the last six games (0-3-1-2). The Aeros have dropped a league-high nine shootouts this season and three games in OT (two to Texas, one to San Antonio). The Aeros have points in 33 of their 44 games played. Houston is coming off a 5-2 loss in San Antonio on Saturday. Houston is 14-5-0-3 on the road this season, outscoring the home team 67-54. The club is winless in the last two games at home, suffering an OTL and an SOL to San Antonio. Houston has 13 goals in the last six games, falling to 22nd in the AHL in goals per game average (2.73). Defensively, Houston ranks tenth overall in the league by allowing 2.73 goals per game. The team has surrendered 21 goals in the last five outings. The Aeros have struggled to score in the first period of play, putting up 28 goals in their first 44 games. The team sits behind only Providence for the fewest of first-period goals in the AHL this season. Houston has 50 goals in the second period and 40 in the third. The Aeros have scored the first goal 18 times this season, posting a 12-3-0-3 mark when they get on the board first. The 2011 Western Conference champions rank 30th in the AHL with an 11.86 penalty minutes per game average. The Aeros are 10-6-3-7 against the West Division this year.

Texas Stars

Center Travis Morin and winger Matt Fraser lead Texas in scoring. Morin is the clubhouse leader with 33 assists and 38 points in his first 43 games played. He ranks in the top five of the AHL for assists and top ten of the league for power-play helpers. Rookie forward Matt Fraser is second in scoring with 35 points in 42 games. He leads the team with 21 goals scored and 147 shots on net. Fraser sits in the top five of the AHL for goals scored, including ranking tied for sixth in power-play goals (9). Fraser is fourth overall among all rookies in points and first in shots.

Colton Sceviour, Francis Wathier and Ryan Garbutt round out the top scorers for Texas. Colton Sceviour is second on the team with 20 assists and he is third with 28 points. Sceviour has two goals and eight assists in his last 10 games. Saturday he became the first Texas Star to play in 200 games for the club. Center Ryan Garbutt has 27 points (11g-16a) in 43 games. He is second on the team in goals scored and tied for third in assists. He also leads the team with 72 penalty minutes, followed by Francis Wathier's 66 and Luke Gazdic's 64 minutes. Garbutt is tied for fourth in the AHL with five shorthanded points and second with four shorthanded assists. Wathier is tied for third overall on the team with nine goals and he is fifth with 25 points. Wathier and Sceviour are tied for second all-time on the Stars scoring list with 100 points each. Rookie center Scott Glennie has 10 points in his last ten games, scoring five goals and setting up five others. Winger Mike Hedden has six points in his last eight games. Stephen Schultz has three goals over the last three games.

Jordie Benn leads all defenders and is tied for third in the AHL with eight goals. He is also first among Texas blueliners with 19 points in 39 games played. Captain Brad Lukowich is tied for second among Texas defensemen in scoring with 17 points in 37 games played. Dan Spang leads all defensemen with 15 assists and he is tied for second with 17 points in 42 games. Rookie Brenden Dillon (2-14-16) is fourth in points and he is first among D-men with 48 penalty minutes. Veteran defender Maxime Fortunus has 15 points in 39 games.

Goalies Andrew Raycroft and Tyler Beskorowany split time in net for Texas. Raycroft is 6-4-1 with a 2.66 goals against average and a .910 save percentage in 11 starts for the Stars. He posted a season-high 42 saves at Oklahoma City on Saturday. Beskorowany is 6-10-0 with a 3.10 goals against average and a .891 save percentage.

Special Teams

The Stars have converted 43 of 203 power plays for a 21.2% conversion rate, as Texas ranks fifth overall in power play percentage. The team has 15 power-play goals over the last 13 games - going 15-for-60 over that span. The Stars have killed off 137 of 165 opponents' power plays (83%), ranking 10th overall on the penalty kill. The Stars have killed off 97 of the last 111 penalties (87.4%). Texas has the fewest amount of total penalty kills in the AHL at 165. The Aeros are 25th in the AHL on the penalty kill, stopping 78.2% of their opponents' power plays. Overall, Houston ranks 12th in the AHL on the power play after going 37-for-200 (18.5%).

The Houston Aeros

Right wing Jon DiSalvatore leads the team with 33 points in 44 games. The Aeros captain has a team-leading 14 goals and 19 assists this season. He is second in shots on goal with 98. Over the last three years, DiSalvatore has 12 goals and 11 assists for 23 points in 32 games against Texas. Center Casey Wellman comes in second for goals scored with 13 in only 25 games played. Wellman recently has also played in 14 games for the Minnesota Wild, scoring two goals and totaling seven points. Veteran center Jeff Taffe is leads the team with 20 assists and is tied for second with 27 points. Taffe leads the club with 14 power-play assists and 110 shots on goal. Taffe notched his 400th AHL point with an assist on Jon DiSalvatore's goal on Jan. 8 at San Antonio. Taffe is a team-worst -17 this year. Forward Justin Fontaine is tied for second in team scoring with 27 points, scoring 10 goals and setting up 17 others. He sits in the top 20 for rookie league leaders in points and assists. Fontaine leads the team with seven points over the last ten games played. The Aeros top-scoring defenseman is Chay Genoway, who has 14 assists and 16 points in 41 games played.

With a plethora of injuries in Minnesota, the Wild have relied heavily on its AHL affiliate with 22 roster moves since New Years' Day. Former Texas Star Warren Peters is in Minnesota, joined by forwards Carson MacMillan, Chad Rau, Jed Ortmeyer, Matt Kassian and defenseman Nate Prosser.

In goal, the Aeros feature Matt Hackett and rookie Darcy Kuemper. After leading the Aeros to the Calder Cup Finals in 2011, Hackett is 13-8-4 in his second season with the Aeros. He sports a 2.44 goals against average and a .918 save percentage. Hackett has played in three games for Minnesota this year, going 2-0-0 with a 0.85 goals against average and a .977 save percentage. Kuemper is 5-4-4 with a 2.21 goals against average and a .927 save percentage. The rookie tender started the season with Ontario of the ECHL, going 7-1-0 with a 1.74 goals against average and a .941 save percentage.

Shorthanded Supremacy

The 2011-12 Texas Stars are rewriting the team record books for shorthanded goals. So far this season, Texas has an AHL-high six shorthanded goals scored at home this year. In all, the Stars rank in the top five of the AHL with nine shorthanded goals this season. In the Stars Inaugural season, the team mustered two SHGs at home and two on the road for four on the season. Texas scored two SHGs at home in 2010-11 and tallied three on the road for five in the team's second full season in the AHL.

Dallas Recalls Larsen From Texas

The Dallas Stars announced on Monday that defenseman Philip Larsen has been recalled from the Texas Stars, Dallas' primary affiliate in the American Hockey League (AHL). Dallas also reassigned forward Jake Hauswirth from Texas to the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees of the Central Hockey League.

Larsen, 22, has skated in 21 games for Dallas this season, scoring one goal and two assists in that span. The young defenseman has played in 12 games for Texas this season, setting up nine goals and racking up ten points. Dallas drafted Larsen with the 149th pick (fifth round) of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.

Hauswirth played in 11 games for Texas, setting up one goal for his first AHL point. He started the 2011-12 season with Rio Grande Valley, scoring six goals and adding seven assists for 13 points in 21 games played.

Texas Recalls Coyle From Idaho

The Texas Stars announced on Wednesday that defenseman Jace Coyle has been reassigned from the Idaho Steelheads of the ECHL to the Texas Stars. Texas is Dallas' primary affiliate in the American Hockey League (AHL) and Idaho is Dallas' ECHL affiliate.

The rookie defenseman has split time between Idaho and Texas this year, recording an assist in 17 games with the Stars this season. The rookie defender has played in 13 games with Idaho, setting up two goals.

LAST THREE GAMES

Texas 1 at Oklahoma City 3 1/28/12

The Texas Stars were defeated by the Oklahoma City Barons 3-1 in front of 5,606 fans at the Cox Convention Center on Saturday night. Barons' goalie David LeNeveu stopped 22 of 23 for the win. Texas goalie Andrew Raycroft stopped a season-high 42 of 44 shots in the loss. Barons' forwards Ryan Keller, Philip Cornet and Hunter Trembley each scored in the win. Texas left wing Francis Wathier netted the lone goal in the Stars defeat.

Texas 2 at San Antonio 6 1/27/12

The Texas Stars were defeated by the San Antonio Rampage 6-2 in front of 7,869 fans at AT&T Center on Friday night. San Antonio scored three goals in the first period and went on to end the Stars three-game winning streak. Six different Rampage skaters registered a multi-point night, as the team won its sixth straight game. Rampage goalie Dov Grumet-Morris stopped 23 of 25 for the win. Stars forwards Angelo Esposito and Tomas Vincour each scored in the loss, as the team fell to 10-12-0-1 on the road this season. Texas goalie Andrew Raycroft took the loss, stopping 15 of 20 shots in 47:22 of play. Tyler Beskorowany finished the game in net for Texas, stopping five of six.

Houston 3 at Texas 4 SO 1/21/12

The Texas Stars defeated the Houston Aeros 4-3 in a shootout in front of a sellout crowd of 6,863 fans at Cedar Park Center on Saturday night. Texas rallied in the third period to erase a one-goal deficit and the team scored on three of five shootout attempts to defeat its in-state rival. Stars right wing Colton Sceviour scored the game-tying goal at 9:58 of the third period and added a shootout goal for the win. Texas forwards Stephen Schultz and Mike Hedden scored within 1:20 of each other in the second period, dismissing a two-goal deficit. Texas goalie Andrew Raycroft stopped 22 of 25 shots and three of five shootout attempts to preserve the club's first shootout win of the season.

What's Ahead:

DATE OPPONENT TIME RADIO

Thursday, February 2 at Houston 7:05 PM 104.9 FM

Saturday, February 4 vs. Charlotte 7:00 PM 104.9 FM

Tuesday, February 7 vs. Milwaukee 7:30 PM 104.9 FM

Wednesday, February 8 vs. Milwaukee 7:30 PM 104.9 FM

Friday, February 10 at Rochester 6:35 PM 92.5 FM

* All times listed are central time

Check out the Texas Stars Statistics

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American Hockey League Stories from February 2, 2012


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