AHL Texas Stars

Texas Stars Weekly

March 14, 2011 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Texas Stars News Release


GAME RECAPS:

Texas 2 at Toronto 1 (SO) 3/13/11

The Texas Stars defeated the Toronto Marlies 2-1 in a shootout in front of 4,517 fans on Sunday afternoon at Ricoh Coliseum. Texas goalie Tyler Beskorowany made 30 saves in regulation and stopped all four attempts in the shootout to seal the victory. Toronto goalie Ben Scrivens stopped 22 of 23 in regulation, but allowed two goals on three shootout attempts in the defeat. Stars center Travis Morin scored the team's lone goal in regulation to tie the game and force overtime. The win ended a three-game winless skid for Texas.

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.

Down the Stretch....

Texas will play the next two games outside of the West Division and four of the next five. The Stars have 12 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. The Stars finish their season with three games in three nights the second weekend of April. They will play in Milwaukee on Friday and at home against Oklahoma City on Saturday. Texas will wrap up its season on Sunday, April 10th at San Antonio, which could be a potential playoff qualifying game. The Stars are 28-14-2-4 within their own division.

The West Division continues to be clogged with four weeks remaining in the season. The top four teams in the division are guaranteed a spot in the 2011 Calder Cup Playoffs. There is still a decent chance of a divisional cross over if the fifth place team in the West has more points than the fourth place team in the North Division. Heading into the week, the seventh place team in the West had enough points to take the fourth place spot in the North.

Barring a complete meltdown, Milwaukee and Houston seem like locks for a trip to the playoffs. Milwaukee is in first and is tied for the fewest games of any team in the division. The Admirals have ten of their remaining 15 games at home. Houston leads the division with 38 wins and will play seven of their remaining 11 games at the Toyota Center. The Admirals are in Houston on Tuesday night.

The rest of the division remains cloudy with five points separating third place Texas from seventh place. Peoria and Chicago remain one point behind Texas in a tie for fourth in the division. San Antonio lingers three points back of the Wolves and the Rivermen. The Ramage have 15 games remaining, including nine at AT&T Center where they are 20-11-0-1. Oklahoma City is four points back of a playoff spot with 14 games left on the schedule, including ten road games. The Barons are 18-9-0-1 on the road and only 16-16-2-4 at home.

Western Conference Standings as of (3-14-11)

Texas recalls Michael Neal

On Friday, the Texas Stars announced the team has recalled Michael 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.

With the Clear Day Roster announced last week, the team is required to play only the 22 players listed. If emergency conditions arise as a result of injuries, call ups or suspensions to three players, the team may add a player. Left wing Scott McCulloch is listed as "in residence", meaning he could play under emergency conditions.

Record Breaker

Rookie goalie Richard Bachman has set numerous team records over the last week. With 22 wins on the season, Bachman has passed Matt Climie's team record of 21 wins last seaosn. The 23-year old Bachman has also tied Brent Krahn's mark of five shutouts in 2009-10. Bachman's 45 appearances have surpassed Climie's record of 43 appearances in one year. Bachman also passed Climie's mark of 2,539 minutes played, seeing a total of 2,621 minutes in the Stars crease this year. The second-year pro and AHL rookie goalie is the Stars all-time leader in most goalie categories. Bachman is 28-18-5 all-time in 52 appearances with Texas. He has played 3,008 minutes, posting a 2.25 goals against average and a .925 save percentage with six shutouts.

Rallo Revs Up

Texas right wing Greg Rallo leads the team in scoring with 43 points (21g-22a) in 68 games played this season. Ralllo also leads the team with 21 goals and 210 shots on net. He is tied for the AHL league lead with seven game-winning goals and he ranks in the top ten for shots on goal. He needs one point to tie his career high of 44 points set last year. He also needs four assists to surpass his 25 helpers in 2009-10 with Texas. Rallo is tied with Travis Morin for second all-time among Texas skaters with 137 games played. He also ranks first all-time with 40 goals and is tied for the all-time lead in points with Morin, each has 89 points. Rallo also is the all-time leader with 361 shots on goal and ten game-winning goals.

Milestones...

Texas center Travis Morin has three goals in his last two games and he needs one more to get the 100th goal of his pro career. Greg Rallo needs two assists to reach 100 for his pro career. Left wing Francis Wathier is four games shy of his 300th AHL game.

What's Ahead:

DATE OPPONENT TIME TV/RADIO

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

Sunday, March 20 at Manitoba 2:00 PM 104.9 FM

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

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

Saturday, March 26 vs. Grand Rapids 7:00 PM 1530 AM

* All times listed are central time

Upcoming Home Games and Promotions:

Houston at Texas on Tuesday, March 22 at 7:30 PM

* 3-2-1 Night - ($3 domestic drafts, $2 sodas, $1 hot dogs)

* H-E-B Night Bring in any HEB non-perishable food item to receive $5 off ticket price

For tickets go to www.ticketmaster.com or call (512)-GO-STARS

Check out the Texas Stars Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from March 14, 2011


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