AHL Texas Stars

Gameday Preview - Texas at Rochester

Published on February 10, 2012 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Texas Stars News Release


Texas Stars (21-22-2-2, 46 points) at Rochester Americans (21-18-6-3, 51 points)

The Texas Stars and the Rochester Americans meet for the second and final time this season, only the second meeting in AHL history. The Stars are making their first appearance in team history as the visitor at Rochester's Blue Cross Arena. Both teams are battling for one of the final playoff spots in the Western Conference. The Americans are tied with Peoria for the eighth and final spot in the conference with 51 points. Texas is five points back of both teams with 46 points.

Texas has four wins in its last ten games, going 4-5-1-0 over that span. The Stars ended a five-game winless skid with a 6-3 win at home on Wednesday night over Milwaukee. It marked only the third time this season the Stars have mounted a comeback when trailing after two periods of play. With the win, Texas improved to 11-8-2-1 at home this season, outscoring the opposition 77-67 at Cedar Park Center. Texas has taken eight of the last 12 home games and posted points in ten of the last 12. Texas begins a three-game road trip on Friday night, making additional stops in Hamilton and Lake Erie. The Stars are 10-14-0-1 on the road this season, having been outscored by their opponents 79-64 on the scoreboard. The team has two road wins in the last ten attempts. The Stars are 9-15-0-2 against the West Division and 3-0-0-0 against the North Division. Texas' scoring has been spread out evenly this season, with 41 first-period tallies and 56 second-period markers. Since Dec. 3 (last 27 games), Texas has outscored the opposition 38-21 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 56-48 edge. The club has been outscored by the opposing team 146-141 for the season. Texas is eighth in the league with a 3.00 goals per game average and it ranks 25th defensively with a 3.11 goals against average. The Stars are 14-0-1-1 when leading after two periods of play, but they are 3-19-0-0 when trailing after two periods of play. The team is 10-9-2-2 in games decided by one goal this season. Texas and Manchester are tied for the AHL lead with five overtime wins this season, going 5-0-2-2 when tied after regulation. The Stars are tied for second in the AHL with ten shorthanded goals this season.

Rochester enters Friday's contest in second place of the North Division. The Amerks are coming off a 4-3 loss at division-rival Toronto on Wednesday night. The club is 12-7-2-1 at home this year and 4-5-1-0 in the last ten games. Rochester has outscored the visitors 65-56 at Blue Cross Arena. The Americans are tied for the AHL lead with 15 overtime appearances, going 3-6-3-3 when tied after regulation. They lead the league with six OT defeats. The Americans are 15-7-1-1 when scoring the first goal of the night. In ten meeting with West Division teams, the Americans are 4-4-2-0. The team is tied for the AHL lead with eight shorthanded goals against this year. The Americans have outscored their opponents 47-34 in the third period of play this season. In return, the team has been outscored 54-34 in the middle period of play. The Americans rank 20th in the AHL with a 2.77 goals per game average. They sit 20th with a 2.98 goals against average. Rochester ranks in the bottom five of the AHL by allowing over 32 shots per game while producing just over 28 shots per night.

Texas Stars

Center Travis Morin and winger Matt Fraser lead Texas in scoring. Morin is the clubhouse leader with 33 assists and 41 points in his first 47 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 37 points in 45 games. He leads the team with 22 goals scored and 159 shots on net. Fraser sits in the top ten of the AHL for goals scored, including ranking tied for sixth in power-play goals (9). Fraser is tied for sixth 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 22 assists and he is third with 33 points. Sceviour has four goals and eight points in his last nine games. His assist last Saturday against Charlotte moved him into second all-time on the Stars scoring list with 105 points. Center Ryan Garbutt has 32 points (16g-16a) in 47 games. He is second on the team in goals scored and tied for fourth in assists. He also leads the team with 84 penalty minutes, followed by Francis Wathier's 70 and Luke Gazdic's 69 minutes. Garbutt is tied for fourth in the AHL with five shorthanded points and second with four shorthanded assists. Wathier is fourth overall on the team with nine goals and he is tied for fifth with 26 points. Rookie center Scott Glennie has seven points in his last 10 games, scoring two goals and setting up five others.

Jordie Benn leads all defenders and is tied for fifth in the AHL with eight goals. He also is first among Texas blueliners with 20 points in 43 games played. Captain Brad Lukowich is second among Texas defensemen in scoring with 18 points in 40 games played. Dan Spang and Brenden Dillon lead all defensemen with 15 assists each. Dillon is first among D-men with 48 penalty minutes. Veteran defender Maxime Fortunus has 16 points in 43 games, he is the highest scoring defenseman in team history with 73 points.

Goalies Andrew Raycroft and Tyler Beskorowany split time in net for Texas. Raycroft is 7-6-1 with a 2.74 goals against average and a .906 save percentage in 14 starts for the Stars. He posted a season-high 42 saves at Oklahoma City on Saturday, January 28. He started 13 straight games for Texas until Tuesday night against Milwaukee. Beskorowany is 6-11-0 with a 3.14 goals against average and a .887 save percentage.

Special Teams

The Stars have converted 44 of 220 power plays for a 20% conversion rate, as Texas is ninth overall in power play percentage. Texas ended a stretch of 18 straight power plays with a power-play tally on Tuesday against Milwaukee. The Stars have killed off 151 of 181 opponents' power plays (83.4%), ranking 12th overall on the penalty kill. Texas has the fewest penalty kills in the AHL at 181. The Americans are 23rd in the AHL on the penalty kill, stopping 80.7% of their opponents' power plays. Overall, Rochester ranks 27th in the AHL on the power play after going 29-for-205 (14.1%).

The Rochester Americans

Rochester is one of the oldest franchises in the AHL, celebrating its 50th consecutive AHL season in 2005-06. The Americans were reunited this summer as the AHL affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres. The move came after the team spent three seasons with the Florida Panthers organization.

Left wing Marcus Foligno leads the team with 29 points in 46 games played. He is third overall in goals scored and second on the team with 17 assists. He also leads the team with four game-winning goals this year. Center Phil Varone leads the team with 20 assists and he is second in scoring with 27 points in 48 games played. Left wing Derek Whitmore is in his first full season with Rochester, after spending three years with the Portland Pirates. Whitmore leads the team with 17 goals and he is third with 26 points in 47 games played. He also leads the team with 150 shots on goal and four power-play goals. Despite playing in only 29 games, rookie Zack Kassian is fourth on the team with 24 points. Forward Paul Szczechura has ten points (5g-5a) in the last ten games played.

The Americans' top scoring defenseman, Alex Biega has 13 assists and 16 points in 44 games played. Rookie defenseman Brayden McNabb leads all Rochester defenders with 14 assists and a +12 in only 23 games played. He has spent a portion of the season in the NHL with Buffalo.

In goal, Drew MacIntyre and David Leggio have essentially split time this season. Leggio is 14-13-1 in 28 games with a 2.75 goals against average and a 0.915 save percentage. MacIntyre is 7-11-2 with a 3.01 GAA and 0.903 save percentage in 21 games played.

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 seven shorthanded goals scored at home this year. In all, the Stars rank in the top five of the AHL with ten 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 Adam Pardy From Conditioning Stint, Texas Releases Berube

The Dallas Stars announced on Thursday that the club has recalled defenseman Adam Pardy from the Texas Stars, Dallas' primary affiliate in the American Hockey League (AHL). Additionally, the Texas Stars have released defenseman Mike Berube from a PTO (professional tryout agreement),

Pardy, 27, has played the last two games for Texas on a conditioning assignment, collecting four assists and a +1 rating. He set up three goals in the Stars 6-3 win at home over Milwaukee on Wednesday. Prior to being assigned to Texas, Pardy skated in 22 games for Dallas, recording one assist and 15 shots. The 6-4, 220-pound defenseman from Bonavista, NL has appeared in 169 NHL games, notching 27 points (four goals, 23 assists).

Berube played in five games for Texas, going scoreless with ten penalty minutes. He will return to the Central Hockey League's Allen Americans, Texas' CHL Affiliate. Berube played the first 29 games of the season with the Americans, scoring two goals and totaling nine points.

Texas Shuffles the Deck with A Series of Roster Moves

The Texas Stars announced on Wednesday that the Dallas Stars have reassigned forward Jake Hauswirth to Texas from the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees of the Central Hockey League. In addition, forward Stephen Schultz has been assigned by Texas to the Idaho Steelheads, the ECHL Affiliate of Texas. The Stars also announced that forward Brenden Connolly has been released from a PTO (professional tryout agreement).

Hauswirth played in 11 games for Texas earlier in the season, setting up one goal for his first AHL point. He started the 2011-12 season with Rio Grande Valley, scoring six goals and adding ten assists for 16 points in 24 games played.

Schultz scored seven goals and totaled nine points in 32 games for the Stars this season. He joined Texas in late March of 2011 after concluding a four-year career at Colorado College from 2007-11. The 24-year old rookie played in five regular season games without registering a point for the Stars in 2010-11.

Connolly played in 12 games for Texas this season, registering two assists for the Stars. At the time he joined Texas, he was third overall in the ECHL scoring race, potting 20 goals and dishing out 23 assists for 43 points in 31 games with Greenville.

LAST THREE GAMES

Milwaukee 3 at Texas 6 OT 2/8/12

The Texas Stars defeated the Milwaukee Admirals 6-3 in front of 4,158 fans at the Cedar Park Center on Wednesday night. Center Ryan Garbutt registered a hat trick, as the Stars scored six unanswered goals in the final two periods. Three other Stars put up multi-point nights. Center Scott Glennie registered a goal and two assists, and defenseman Adam Pardy added three assists. Right wing Colton Sceviour scored a goal and an assist in the win. Texas goalie Andrew Raycroft stopped 21 of 24 shots as the Stars improved to 11-8-2-1 at home. Admirals' center Kyle Wilson registered a multi-point night with a goal and an assist. Milwaukee goalie Jeremy Smith stopped 31 of 36 shots, suffering his sixth straight loss.

Milwaukee 4 at Texas 3 OT 2/7/12

The Texas Stars were defeated by the Milwaukee Admirals 4-3 in overtime in front of 4,231 fans at the Cedar Park Center on Tuesday night. Admirals' center Chris Mueller scored the game-winning goal 3:15 into overtime, helping Milwaukee improve to 10-11-0-1 on the road. Right wing Taylor Beck registered a goal and two assists on the night, leading the Admirals to their second win over the Stars this season. Milwaukee goalie Atte Engren stopped 37 of 40 shots for the win. Right wing Colton Sceviour netted two goals for Texas and center Travis Morin also scored in the one-goal loss. Texas goalie Tyler Beskorowany stopped 17 of 21 shots, as the Stars fell to 10-8-2-1 at home.

Charlotte 4 at Texas 3 2/4/12

The Texas Stars were defeated by the Charlotte Checkers 4-3 in front of 5,889 fans at the Cedar Park Center on Saturday night. Center Travis Morin scored late in the third period, pulling Texas within one goal, but the Checkers held off a late rush by the Stars to seal the win. Centers Angelo Esposito and Ryan Garbutt also scored in the Stars defeat. Texas goalie Andrew Raycroft stopped 21 of 25 shots as the Stars fall to10-8-1-1 at home. Charlotte right wing Jerome Samson put up a goal and added an assist on the night. Forwards Zac Dalpe, Jared Staal and defenseman Michal Jordan each registered a goal for the Checkers. Charlotte goalie John Muse stopped 33 of 36 shots in the win.

What's Ahead:

DATE OPPONENT TIME RADIO

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

Sunday, February 12 at Hamilton 2:00 PM 104.9 FM

Wednesday, February 15 at Lake Erie 9:45 AM 1530 AM

* All times listed are central time

Check out the Texas Stars Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



American Hockey League Stories from February 10, 2012


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central