AHL Texas Stars

Gameday Preview - Texas at Toronto

Published on March 13, 2011 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Texas Stars News Release


The Stars and Marlies meet for the second time this season and the fourth time in AHL history. In their last meeting on November 6th, Toronto shutout Texas at Cedar Park Center with a 3-0 road win. Toronto leads the all-time series with a 2-1-0-0 mark against Texas. Last year, the home team won every game of the series. This year, the road team has taken the only meeting between the clubs. The Stars are coming off a 3-1 loss in Hamilton on Saturday. The Marlies fell 3-2 at home to the Lake Erie Monsters on Saturday.

Texas is 16-13-1-3 away from Cedar Park Center this season and 2-4-1-3 in the last ten games. Texas is 11-8-1-4 in its last 24 meetings. Five of the last nine games for Texas have gone into a shootout or overtime. Texas has collected points in six of the last ten games. The Stars concluded a five-game home stand on Monday, going 2-2-0-1 over that span. The team began a five-game road trip on Friday in Syracuse, making stops in Hamilton, Toronto and Winnipeg before returning on March 22nd to face Houston. The Stars are 28-14-2-4 against the West Division this season and 6-8-2-1 against the North Division this season. Texas is the second least penalized team in the league accruing 13 penalty minutes a game. The Stars are 19-2-4-6 in one-goal games this year and 20-0-1-1 when leading after two periods of play this season.

Texas will play the next three games outside of the West Division and five of the next six. The Stars have 13 games remaining on the schedule, including six at Cedar Park Center. The final seven games of the regular season will be against the West Division and over a stretch of the first ten days of April. Texas will play division rivals Chicago, Oklahoma City (2), Rockford, San Antonio, Milwaukee and Peoria down the stretch.

Toronto is 15-12-1-3 at home this year and 5-3-1-1 in the last ten games played. The Marlies recently started a stretch of seven home games over the next nine. Toronto is 2-2-1-0 in the last five games at home. Toronto's 200 goals through their first 69 games so far this season currently ranks first in its division and second in the Western Conference. The Marlies nine-goal win on February 9th against Connecticut was their highest offensive output of the season. Toronto has outscored its opponents 69-68 in the second period of play and 67-62 in the third period. The Marlies have outscored their opponents 91-88 at home and 109-104 on the road.

The Marlies are 21-8-0-3 when scoring the first goal of the night for a total 32 times this season. The club is 10-3-0-4 in 17 games against teams from the West Division. The club has a 16-1-0-2 mark when taking a lead into the first intermission and a 23-0-0-3 record when leading after the second period. When trailing after two periods of play, the Marlies are 3-21-1-1.

Texas Reveals Clear Day Roster

Cedar Park, TX - The Texas Stars of the American Hockey League announced on Tuesday the 2010-11 Clear Day Roster, which consists of 20 skaters and two goaltenders.

According to AHL by-laws, only the players listed on a team's Clear Day Roster are eligible to compete in the remainder of the AHL regular season and in the 2011 Calder Cup Playoffs, unless emergency conditions arise as a result of injury, recall or suspension. Teams may also add signed junior players or players on amateur tryout contracts after Clear Day, but only once their respective junior or college seasons are complete. The Stars Clear Day Roster consists of 13 forwards, seven defensemen and two goaltenders.

Goaltenders: Richard Bachman, Tyler Beskorowany. Defensemen: Jordie Benn, Maxime Fortunus, Philip Larsen, Trevor Ludwig, Brad Lukowich, Dan Spang, Matt Stephenson. Forwards: Sean Backman, Cody Chupp, Aaron Gagnon, Luke Gazdic, Travis Morin, Greg Rallo, Ondrej Roman, Raymond Sawada, Colton Sceviour, Brandon Segal, Mathieu Tousignant, Tomas Vincour, Francis Wathier. In residence: Scott McCulloch

A player in residence can only be used during the remainder of the regular season or the playoffs if a combination of three members of the 22-man roster are injured, recalled or suspended. The complete list of Clear Day rosters can be found at www.theahl.com

Texas Assigns Monast to Idaho, Recalls Neal

The Texas Stars announced on Tuesday that the club has assigned forward Michael Neal and defenseman Guilluame Monast to the Idaho Steelheads, Texas' ECHL Affiliate. On Friday, the Stars recalled Neal from Idaho under emergency conditions.

Neal is in his second pro season after spending the bulk of his rookie season with Idaho. Neal has played in 16 games for Texas this year, scoring three goals and totaling 12 penalty minutes. This season, the Whitby, ON native has played in 37 games for the Steelheads, scoring six goals and totaling 13 points. Last season, Neal played in 57 games for the Steelheads, posting 15 points on five goals and ten assists. The 21-year old also skated in six games for the Texas Stars without registering a point. Neal was drafted in the fifth round (#149 overall) in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft and he is the younger brother of Pittsburgh Penguins forward James Neal.

Monast has one assist in nine games for Texas over three separate recalls from Idaho. He registered his first AHL point with the Stars this season at Lake Erie on Feb. 16. 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.

What's Ahead:

DATE OPPONENT TIME TV/RADIO

Sunday, March 13 at Toronto 2:00 PM 104.9 FM

Friday, March 18 at Manitoba 7:30 PM 1530 AM

Sunday, March 20 at Manitoba 2:00 PM 1530 AM

Tuesday, March 22 vs. Houston 7:30 PM 1530 AM

Friday, March 25 vs. Grand Rapids 7:30 PM 1530 AM

* All times listed are central time

GAME RECAPS:

Texas 1 at Hamilton 3 3/12/11

The Texas Stars were defeated by the Hamilton Bulldogs 3-2 in front of 3,056 fans on Saturday afternoon at Copps Coliseum. Forwards Andrew Conboy and Hunter Bishop each tallied a goal in the last five minutes of regulation to lift the Bulldogs over the Stars. Hamilton goalie Drew MacIntyre stopped 36 Texas shots to hold on for the win. Stars center Travis Morin scored both goals, as the team's winless streak slipped to three games (0-2-0-1). Texas goalie Richard Bachman made 30 saves for the loss, as his club fell to 16-13-1-3 on the road this season.

Texas 0 at Syracuse 1 SO 3/11/11

The Texas Stars were defeated by the Syracuse Crunch 1-0 in a shootout on Friday night at the Oncenter War Memorial. Syracuse goalie J.P. Lavasseur stopped 34 Texas shots in regulation and overtime for the shutout. The Crunch netminder also stopped two of five shootout attempts to preserve the win. Texas goalie Richard Bachman made 25 saves in regulation, but only stopped one of five attempts in the shootout loss. Syracuse forward Patrick Maroon scored the decisive goal in the shootout.

Syracuse 3 at Texas 1 3/7/11

The Texas Stars were defeated by the Syracuse Crunch 3-1 on Monday at Cedar Park Center. Syracuse goalie Ray Emery stopped 27 of 28 shots as the Stars fell to 18-10-3-3 at home this season. Crunch left wing John Mitchell had a goal and an assist as Syracuse scored its 11th road win of the year. Stars defenseman Brad Lukowich scored the team's lone goal. Texas goalie Tyler Beskorowany stopped three of six shots to suffer the loss. Richard Bachman (22-14-4) stopped all 13 shots faced in a relief effort.

The Texas Stars

After 67 games of action, right wing Greg Rallo leads the team lead in points with 42 (21g-21a) in 67 games played. Ralllo also leads the team with 21 goals and 207 shots on net. Center Travis Morin is second for Texas in scoring with 15 goals and 21 assists for 36 points in 51 games played. Morin returned to the lineup on Monday after missing the previous 14 games with an injury. Dan Spang is third overall on the team with 33 points. He leads the team lead in assists (24), as well as all defensemen in goals (9) and shots on goal (143). Colton Sceviour is tied for fourth on the team with 21 assists and fourth with 32 points in 65 games played. Left wing Francis Wathier is second on the team with 16 goals and 145 shots in 55 games played. Defensemen Brad Lukowich (22) and Maxime Fortunus (23) are among the team leaders in assists. Center Mathieu Tousignant leads the team with 103 penalty minutes.

Texas Stars goalies Richard Bachman and Tyler Beskorowany fill the net for the Stars. Bachman has appeared in 45 games, going 22-15-5 with a 2.29 goals against average and a .924 save percentage. Bachman ranks in the top ten in the AHL for goals against average and save percentage. Bachman has started 29 of the last 38 games. Goalie Brent Krahn has appeared in 12 games, posting a 6-6-0 mark, a 3.20 goals against average and a .895 save percentage. Krahn is out with an injury. Overall, Beskorowany is 6-6-1 with a 2.50 goals against average and a .925 save percentage.

Career Highs...

Several Texas Stars have set new career highs over the last few weeks. Defenseman Maxime Fortunus recently set a new career high for points and assists in one season. He currently has 27 points and 23 assists, surpassing his mark of 18 assists in 2006-07 with the Manitoba Moose. Last season, Fortunus set a career-high with 11 goals and 23 points in 72 games for Texas. Right wing Greg Rallo has a new career high of goals in a season with 21. Rallo tallied 19 in 69 games with Texas in 2009-10.

The Toronto Marlies

The Marlies return 13 players from 2009-10 season that went 33-35-6-6 with 78 points and a fifth place finish in the North Division. Toronto coach Dallas Eakins returns for his second year as head coach. He was named the third head coach in Marlies history in 2009.

Right wing Greg Scott returns to the Marlies for his second season. Last year, Scott was third on the team with 32 points in 71 games. Left wing Ryan Hamilton comes back for his third season after tying for a team-high 16 goals in 47 games last year. Scott has ten goals and 23 points in 44 games played this season. Hamilton has nine goals and 21 points in 35 games played this season.

Center Mike Zigomanis leads the Marlies with 33 assists and 47 points in 61 games played this season. Rookie centerman Nazem Kadri is second on the team with 24 assists and 40 points in 43 games played. He leads the club with 0.93 points per game. In his final season of juniors, Kadri racked up 93 points in 56 games, including a team-high 58 assists for London of the OHL. Forward Joe Colborne is third on the team in points with 36 in 66 games played. Colborne was sent to Toronto by the Boston Bruins in the trade for Tomas Kaberle. In 11 games with the Marlies, Colborne has six goals and ten points. Defensemen Matt Lashoff and Simon Gysbers lead the offensive attack from the blueline. Gysbers has 22 assists and 29 points, while Lashoff has 21 assists and 28 points. Lashoff leads the team with 135 penalty minutes in 68 games played.

Former Dallas Star and Texas Star Fabian Brunnstrom will face his former team for the first time since he was traded by Dallas to Toronto for right wing Mikhail Stefanovich on January 13th. Brunnstrom had 21 points in 37 games with Texas prior to his trade. In 27 games with the Marlies, he has seven assists and ten points.

In net, the Marlies carry three goalies, including Jussi Rynnas, Andrew Engelage and Ben Scrivens. Goalie Jussi Rynnas is 9-14-3 with a 2.80 goals against average and a .909 save percentage. Engelage is 2-0-0 with a 3.37 goals against average and a .892 save percentage. Scrivens is 11-7-3 with a 2.38 goals against average and a .924 save percentage. Scrivens has started the last seven games. Rynnas has not played since Feb. 12th in Abbotsford.

Special Teams

After finishing second overall last season on the penalty kill, the Stars rank 27th overall at 78.5%. Texas sits 20th in the AHL, converting 17.0% of its power plays. The Marlies are 25th overall on the power play, converting 15.0% of the time. Toronto is first overall on the penalty kill, stopping 86.7% of its opponents' power plays.

Offense and Defense

The Texas Stars are 11th overall in team defense, allowing 2.73 goals against per game. Texas is ranked 22nd out of 30 teams, scoring an average of 2.71 goals per game. Toronto's defense ranks 14th overall with a 2.78 goals against per game. The Marlies sit 13th offensively, averaging 2.84 goals per game.

Check out the Texas Stars Statistics

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American Hockey League Stories from March 13, 2011


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