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Texas Stars

Gameday Preview - Rochester at Texas

December 17, 2011 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Texas Stars News Release


Texas Stars (11-13-0-1, 21 points) vs. Rochester Americans (11-11-4-1, 27 points)

The Texas Stars and the Rochester Americans meet for the first time in AHL history. The Stars and the Americans will face off one more time this season, February 10th at the Blue Cross Arena. Rochester has not visited the state of Texas since the 2008-09 season, when they faced the San Antonio Rampage on December 9th and the Houston Aeros on December 10th. In the last five years, Rochester is 1-2-2-0 when playing in Texas.

The Stars have four wins in their last ten games, going 4-6-0-0 over that span. The team is coming off a 4-1 loss in Houston on Friday night. Texas is 4-7-0-1 at home this season, having been outscored by its opponents 38-35 at Cedar Park Center. The Stars are 1-5-0-1 in their last seven home games. This is the first time all season the Stars have faced a team from the North Division. 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 next ten games will be against division rivals. Texas' scoring has been spread out evenly this season, with 26 first-period tallies and 23 second-period markers. The Stars have been outscored in second period of play 30-23. Texas is 16th in the league with a 2.88 goals per game average. The team has 31 goals over its last 14 games. The Stars are 8-1-0-1 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.

Rochester enters Saturday's contest in second place of the North Division with 27 points. On Saturday, the Americans play the fourth game of five straight on the road. The team will end its road swing in Houston on Sunday. Last weekend, Rochester earned three out of a possible six points with a home win and an overtime loss on the road. The Americans have points in nine of their last 15 games. Rochester is coming off a 3-2 overtime loss on the road to San Antonio on Friday. Rochester is 2-7-4-0 on the road this year, and the team has not won a road contest since a 3-2 victory at Binghamton on November 4th. The squad leads all AHL teams with four overtime losses on the road. Rochester is strongest in the third period of play, having outscored opponents 24 to 18 in the final 20 minutes. The Americans have scored the opening goal in just 12 of their 27 games this season, going 6-5-1-0 when scoring first. Rochester has not lost in regulation when leading after two periods, with a record of 6-0-1-0. However, when leading after the first period, the Americans are just 4-3-1-0. The Americans have played just two games against a West Division opponent this year, falling to the Houston Aeros at home on December 12th and last night's OT loss at AT&T Center. On the power play, Rochester has been markedly better at home than on the road. At home, The Americans have converted 12-of-64 (18.8%) power plays, compared to 5-for-56 (8.9%) on the road.

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 130 pro games, scoring 35 goals and totaling 75 points.

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

Saturday, December 17 vs. Rochester 7:00 PM 92.5 FM

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

* All times listed are central time

LAST THREE GAMES

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.

Oklahoma City 3 at Texas 2 12/10/11

The Texas Stars were defeated by the Oklahoma City Barons 3-2 in front of 4,878 fans at Cedar Park Center on Saturday night. Oklahoma City goalie Yann Danis stopped 27 of 29 Texas shots as the Barons improved to 11-3-0-0 on the road. Forwards Tanner House and Tristan Grant scored for the Barons, while defenseman Taylor Chorney netted the game-winning goal. Center Scott Glennie and left wing Matt Fraser both scored in the third period to bring Texas within a goal. Texas goalie Tyler Beskorowany stopped 16 of 19 shots, as the Stars fell to 4-7-0-1 at home.

Texas Stars

Center Travis Morin and winger Matt Fraser lead Texas in scoring. Morin is the clubhouse leader with 19 assists and 23 points in his first 25 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 11 games played. Rookie forward Matt Fraser is second in scoring with 19 points in 25 games. He leads the team with 13 goals scored and 94 shots on net. Fraser is tied for fourth in the AHL with seven power-play goals and he is tied for seventh overall in the AHL in rookie scoring. Fraser has a four-game scoring streak, potting four goals and six 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 five goals and 11 assists for 16 points in 25 games played. Center Ryan Garbutt has 13 points in 25 games. Garbutt leads Texas with 48 penalty minutes, followed by Luke Gazdic, who has 37 minutes in 25 games played. Garbutt leads Texas and is second in the AHL with 19 minor penalties. Rookie forward Scott Glennie has seven points in his last eight games.

Jordie Benn leads all Texas defensemen in scoring with seven goals and 14 points in 25 games played. He ranks tied for second in goals scored and tied for 16th in points among all AHL defensemen. Benn has seven points in his last 11 games. Veteran defenseman Dan Spang is second among all Texas defenseman with 13 points off two goals and 11 assists in 25 games. Rookie Brenden Dillon (1-10-11) is third among team defenders in points and first with 32 penalty minutes. Defender Maxime Fortunus has eight points in 21 games, while Captain Brad Lukowich has six assists in 22 games played.

Goalies Tyler Beskorowany and Jimmy Spratt are the goalies on the Texas roster, 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 the last six games, going 3-3-0 with a 2.36 goals against average and a .905 save percentage. He posted his second career AHL shutout with 29 saves last Friday, a 3-0 over Charlotte at home.

Special Teams

The Stars have converted 28 of 126 power plays for a 22.2% conversion rate. The Stars have failed to register a power-play goal in ten of their first 25 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 scored more than one power-play goal nine times this season. The Stars are tied for fourth in the league with 27 power-play goals this season. The Stars have killed off 88 of the 106 penalties (83.5%), ranking ninth overall on the penalty kill. The Stars have killed off 48 of the last 53 penalties (90.6%). The Americans are 17th overall in the AHL on the penalty kill, stopping 82.1% of their opponents' power plays. Overall, Rochester ranks 26th best in the AHL on the power play after going 17-for-120 (14.2%).

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. Last season, the Americans finished at the bottom of the Eastern Conference with 72 points, missing the playoffs for the fourth time in six years.

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 18 points and 12 goals in 27 games played. Left wing Colin Stuart was called up to Buffalo on Friday, leaving as the second leading scorer on the team with 17 points in 25 games played. Center Mark Voakes is tops on the team in assists with 12 to go along with two goals. The Americans' top scoring defenseman, Brayden McNabb, is currently with Buffalo as well. McNabb had one goal and nine assists for 10 points while playing with Rochester. TJ Brennan leads the current Americans defensive core with four goals and five assists for nine points in 20 games played.

In goal, Drew MacIntyre and David Leggio have essentially split time this season. Leggio is 7-7-0-0 in 14 games with a 2.91 goals against average and a 0.902 save percentage. MacIntyre is 4-8-1-1 with a 2.60 GAA and 0.918 save percentage in 13 games played.

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