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AHL Texas Stars

Gameday Preview - Texas at San Antonio

December 18, 2011 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Texas Stars News Release


Texas Stars (12-13-0-1, 25 points) vs. San Antonio Rampage (13-14-0-0, 26 points)

The Texas Stars and the San Antonio Rampage meet for the fourth time this season. The Rampage leads the season series after two out of the first three games of the season series. San Antonio took the last meeting between the two teams, a 3-2 win at AT&T Center on November 13. This marks the 26th all-time meeting between the two teams that will play a total of 12 games this season, including five more games at Cedar Park Center this season. Texas posted a 6-2-0-2 mark over San Antonio in 2010-11 and they own the all-time series with a 15-8-0-2 record. The Stars are 9-2-0-1 in 12 games at Cedar Park Center against the Rampage. Texas is 6-6-0-1 all-time at AT&T Center, putting up five shutouts in 13 visits. The Stars' lone win in the season series was a 4-0 shutout at AT&T Center on November 6.

The Stars have five wins in their last ten games, going 5-5-0-0 over that span. The team is coming off a 6-2 win at home over the Rochester Americans on Saturday night. Texas is 7-6-0-0 at home this season, having been outscored by its opponents 39-37. The Stars are 5-9-0-1 against the West Division this season. The team is in the middle of a stretch where nine of their 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 27 second-period markers. The Stars have been outscored in second period of play 30-27. Texas is 13th 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 37 goals over its last 15 games. The Stars are 9-1-0-1 when leading after two periods of play, but they are 0-12-0-0 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.

San Antonio comes into its fourth meeting of the season with a three-game winning streak intact. The Rampage posted a 3-2 overtime win on Friday night at home over the Rochester Americans. The team had a day off on Saturday. San Antonio is 6-4-0-0 in the last ten games and 7-8-0-0 at home this season. The Rampage has been outscored 44-30 on home ice this season. The team has four straight wins on home ice after starting 3-8-0-0 at AT&T Center. San Antonio has only give up six goals in the last five games played. The club is 10-2-0-0 when scoring first this season. The Rampage is 6-8-0-0 against the West Division this season. The team's next five games will be against division rivals. San Antonio has been outscored in every period this season, including a 25-13 differential in the third period of play. The Rampage has scored 23 second-period goals and 22 first period goals. San Antonio is 7-1-0-0 when leading after the first and 9-0-0-0 when leading after the second. The Rampage is 0-12-0-0 when trailing after two periods of play.

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, Wisc., native has played in 131 pro games, scoring 35 goals and totaling 75 points. Hauswirth made his AHL debut on Saturday for Texas.

Coyle Returns From Idaho

The Texas Stars announced on Tuesday that the club has recalled defenseman Jace Coyle from the Idaho Steelheads, the Stars' ECHL affiliate.

The rookie defenseman was assigned to Idaho last week, posting one assist in three games with the Steelheads. Coyle played in 11 games for Texas without registering a point. The 21-year old spent the last three years playing for the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western Hockey League (WHL). The 5-foot-11, 185-pounder enjoyed his best WHL season in 2009-10, setting up 36 goals and totaling 46 points in 68 games played. In 241 WHL games from 2007-11, Coyle scored 25 goals and totaled 107 points. The undrafted defenseman attended training camp with the NHL's Dallas Stars in 2011 and played for the Stars in the 2011 Traverse City Prospects camp.

What's Ahead:

DATE OPPONENT TIME RADIO

Sunday, December 18 at San Antonio 3:30 PM 104.9 FM

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

* All times listed are central time

LAST THREE GAMES

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 3 at Oklahoma City 2 12/13/11

The Texas Stars defeated the Oklahoma City Barons 3-2 in front of 2,393 fans at the Cox Convention Center on Tuesday night. The Stars erupted for three goals in the first period and hung on for a road win against the top team in the AHL. Texas forwards Raymond Sawada, Stephen Schultz and Colton Sceviour each scored, as Texas improved to 7-5-0-0 on the road this season. Texas goalie Tyler Beskorowany stopped 18 of 20 shots for the win. Oklahoma City goalie David LeNeveu suffered the loss and was pulled after allowing three goals on 11 shots in the opening period. Yann Danis stopped all remaining 19 Texas shots to hold the Stars off the scoreboard in the final two periods. Barons' defenseman Taylor Chorney and winger Ryan Keller netted third-period goals to pull Oklahoma City within a goal.

Texas Stars

Center Travis Morin and winger Matt Fraser lead Texas in scoring. Morin is the clubhouse leader with 21 assists and 25 points in his first 26 games played. He ranks in the top ten of the AHL for assists and he is among the AHL leaders with ten power-play helpers. Morin has an assist in five straight road games, as well as eight assists in his last 10 games played. Rookie forward Matt Fraser is second in scoring with 20 points in 26 games. He leads the team with 13 goals scored and 95 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 six-game scoring streak, potting four goals and seven points over that span.

Right wing Raymond Sawada is tied for third overall in team scoring with six goals and ten assists for 16 points in 25 games played. 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 26 games played. Center Ryan Garbutt has 17 points (4g-13a) in 26 games. Garbutt leads Texas with 48 penalty minutes, followed by Luke Gazdic, who has 47 minutes in 26 games played. Garbutt leads Texas and is tied for second in the AHL with 19 minor penalties. Rookie forward Scott Glennie has seven points in his last nine games.

Jordie Benn leads all Texas defensemen in scoring with seven goals and 14 points in 26 games played. He ranks tied for second in goals scored and tied for 18th in points among all AHL defensemen. Benn has six points in his last 10 games. Veteran defenseman Dan Spang is second among all Texas defenseman with 14 points off two goals and 12 assists in 26 games. Rookie Brenden Dillon (2-11-13) is third among team defenders in points and he is first among D-men with 32 penalty minutes. Defender Maxime Fortunus has eight points in 22 games, while Captain Brad Lukowich has seven points in 23 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 4-7-0 with a 2.75 goals against average and a .903 save percentage. Since Bachman's recall, Beskorwany has started six of the last seven games, going 3-3-0 with a 2.36 goals against average and a .905 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 131 power plays for a 21.4% conversion rate. The Stars have failed to register a power-play goal in 11 of their first 26 games. The team ended a string of 19 consecutive power plays without a goal, going 1-for-1 on Friday night in Houston. Texas has one power-play goal in the last 24 attempts. The club has scored more than one power-play goal nine times this season. The Stars are tied for third in the league with 28 power-play goals this season. The Stars have killed off 92 of the 110 penalties (83.6%), ranking eighth overall on the penalty kill. The Stars have killed off 52 of the last 57 penalties (91.2%). The Rampage is 28th overall in the AHL on the penalty kill, stopping 76.0% of their opponents' power plays. Overall, San Antonio ranks last in the AHL on the power play after going 11-for-102 (10.8%).

Rallo Gets The Call - Former Star To Make NHL Debut

Florida Panthers Executive Vice President & General Manager Dale Tallon announced on Saturday that center Greg Rallo has been recalled from the San Antonio Rampage (AHL).

Rallo, 30, has recorded 10 points (7-3-10) and 4 PIM in 24 games with the Rampage this season. The center has played in 357 games in his professional career, registering 202 points (95-107-202). The Gurnee, Ill., native was signed by Florida as a free agent on July 2 and has yet to appear in a NHL regular season game. The right wing played in two seasons for Texas from 2009-11. In 147 games with the Stars, Rallo scored 45 goals and totaled 98 points.

The San Antonio Rampage

Center Bracken Kearns leads San Antonio in scoring with a team-high nine goals and 18 points in 22 games played. He also leads the team with five power-play goals this season, nearly half of his team's entire season total of PPGs. Kearns has seven points in his last seven games. Defenseman Colby Robak is second on the team in scoring. Robak has five goals and ten assists for 15 points in 27 games played. The second-year pro ranks tied for 13th in scoring among all AHL defensemen. His +12 rating is tied for the seventh best rating in the league.

Right wing Bill Thomas and center Mark Cullen are tied for third in team scoring with 14 points each. Cullen has a team-high 12 assists in 20 games played. Thomas has seven goals and seven assist in 24 games played. Left wing Evan Barlow has three goals and four assists for seven points in his last ten games played.

San Antonio features two goaltenders this season led by Jacob Markstrom. Florida drafted him 31st overall in the 2008 NHL Entry draft. He started the year with the Panthers, going 2-2-1 with a 2.05 goals against average and a .944 save percentage. So far in San Antonio, he is 4-5-0 with a 2.61 goals against average and a .911 save percentage. Markstrom is 2-2-0 in his last four starts, posting a 1.53 goals against average and a .947 save percentage. Dov Grumet-Morris is 4-1-0 in five starts, with a 1.59 goals against average and a .936 save percentage. ***-- Josh Fisher

Director of Media Relations and Broadcasting

Texas Stars Hockey Club

(W) 512-600-5016

(C) 512-431-8226

(F) 512-600-5016

Cedar Park Center

2100 Avenue of the Stars

Cedar Park, TX 78613

www.texasstarshockey.com

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