AHL San Antonio Rampage

Rampage drop tough one to Quad City

April 12, 2008 - American Hockey League (AHL)
San Antonio Rampage News Release


SAN ANTONIO - Two goals in under a minute's time from David Van der Gulik ignited the Quad City Flames to a 3-2 decision over the San Antonio Rampage Saturday night in front of 6,554 at the AT&T Center.

The loss, coupled with Houston's 3-2 victory over Milwaukee, restores a three-way tie for third-place in the American Hockey League's West Division heading into the final day of action. With Milwaukee and Houston playing each other again Sunday, the Rampage (42-27-3-7, 94 points) can claim the fourth spot outright with a win tomorrow against Quad City, setting up a first-round playoff series with the West Division champion Chicago Wolves.

Quad City took the lead 1:37 into the game with a one-timer from Carsen Germyn. David Van der Gulik left the puck from Germyn atop the right circle, where he scored top-shelf.

The Rampage drew even with a little bit of chemistry between Mike Zigomanis and Enver Lisin. Zigomanis gave the puck to a charging Lisin, who assessed the action and decided to feed it back to a wide-open Zigomanis in the slot for the equalizer at 5:42 of the second period.

The Rampage gained the lead later in the frame, this time with Zigomanis taking on the role of playmaker.

David Spina led the Rampage into the Flames' zone on an odd-man rush with Zigomanis trailing. Spina tapped the puck to Zigomanis and raced toward Quad City netminder Curtis McElhinney. Zigomanis delivered the puck back to Spina just ahead of the left goal-line, where he fired a missile through for his 20th goal of the season.

Van der Gulik slung the puck around Josh Tordjman to tie the game at 9:43 of the final period. He added his second goal of the period 54 seconds later with a flicker for his third point of the night.

The loss was only the third of the season for the Rampage when leading after two periods (22-3-1-4). Zigomanis stretched his point streak to five games, compiling four goals and two assists in that span, and has lit the lamp in three straight. He tied a team-high with seven consecutive games scoring a point (four goals, five assists) from Feb. 29 to Mar. 21. Zigomanis has recorded 25 points in just 27 games with the Rampage this season, and leads the team with 15 assists since the All-Star break.

Tordjman stopped 28 of 31 shots for the Rampage, and McElhinney made 29 saves.

Tonight's loss means the Rampage will start the playoffs on the road. The Rampage can finish fourth in the division with a victory tomorrow night. A regulation loss will make them the fifth-place team in the West, where they would crossover to the North Division bracket to take on the Toronto Marlies in the first round.

The Calder Cup playoffs are a best-of-seven series, and the format for teams separated by more than 300 miles is 2-3-2.

The Rampage close the regular season tomorrow with a 5 p.m. rematch against Quad City.

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American Hockey League Stories from April 12, 2008


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