San Antonio Rampage comes up big against Chicago in Season Opener

San Antonio after a busy off-season by picking up players like Matt Climie and Mathieu Beaudoin, the Rampage were eagar to show off the new talent to show the AHL West Division that they are looking to be big time contenders in the Division after finishing 6th last season.

San Antonio did last night by spreading the scoring around which was lead by Mathieu Beaudoin who had 2 goals and 2 assists last night, other strong performances include Garrett Stafford and Ryan Hollweg who each had a goal and 2 assists.

 In all, 8 players had at least a point in the game where the Rampage were up 5-0 early in the 3rd period. With the exception of a 3 goal surge by the Wolves, the Rampage had this one sown up to win the season opener 6-3 where the Rampage won the home opener for the 6th time in team history, but they hope to begin to convert this into only their 3rd playoff appearance in their history.

Another former Texas Star Matt Climie stopped 26 of 29 Wolves shots in the game, and he's looking to take control in net for the Rampage this season after helping get the Stars to the Calder Cup Final last season.


Chicago Wolves 3  San Antonio Rampage 6  (0-2, 0-1, 3-3)

Chicago VS. San Antonio Game Highlights

Here's the Game story from the San Antonio Rampage Website

From San Antonio, Texas: The San Antonio Rampage set the tone for the 2010-2011 season with a 6-3 victory over the Chicago Wolves in front of a full house with a 8,043 fans in attendance Friday Night at the AT&T Center.

Action commenced right from the gate for San Antonio, as Mikkael Boedkar jumped in front of the pack with a breakaway for the Rampage's first play of the season. He misfired the puck due to a holding penalty by Chicago defensemen Nolan Welch.

A penalty shot was awarded to Boedkar was unable to take advantage of the one-on-one match up against Wolves goaltender Drew Macintyre. Boedkar skated from the right wall and into the slot before firing a shot that was blocked by Macintyre's right leg just 23 seconds into the opening period.

This does not stop San Antonio from getting on the scoreboard first during the first period as defensemen Garrett Stafford gave the Rampage their first goal of the season at 4:54 of the first period. Rampage right wing Mathieu Beaudoin set up Stafford up perfectly in front of the net as the shot went in over Macintyre's right shoulder. Stafford and Beaudoin were both part of the Texas Stars Calder Cup Finals team last season and teamed up again tonight to help set the tone for the Rampage.

Shortly after the first goal, Beaudoin was back in action scoring on a slim angle to bring the Rampage a 2-0 lead at 6:47 mark of the first period. With the Rampage winning the faceoff, Beaudoin fired a shot from the right corner along the goal line that deflected off the back of Macintyre left leg and into the net. Ryan Hollweg and Bracken Kerns were credited with the assists.

After a quiet second period, Boedker shook things up in the 2nd period with 12 seconds to go in the middle frame by scoring on the power play to give the Rampage a 3-0 edge. Stafford sent a cross ice pass to the stick of Boedken where he then placed it directly underneath the cross bar in the right corner. Viktor Tikhnov was credited with the second assist.

The Rampage continued to dominate the scoreboard as they took a commanding 5-0 lead over the Wolves at 4:34 into the final stanza with a rebound goal by rookie Chris Summers. Center Andrew Ebbett fired a shot down the center where it was reflected off Macintyre's chest and landed at the top of the crease where Summers was able to pick it up and hit the top left corner of the net.

Chicago rallied with just under 10 minutes remaining in regulation by scoring three goals in less then two minutes.

Wolves right wing Darren Haydar passed the puck from the right side of the net to set up Jamie Hunt at the left circle for a shot that escaped over the right shoulder of Rampage goalie Matt Climie and into the net for Chicago's first tally of the season at 10:47.

Just 32 seconds later, the duo repeated with the same play that surprised Climie to double the Wolves score. Both of Hunt's goals came on the power play.

At the 12:43 mark of the final frame, Chicago center Jarred Ross came from behind the net of the right side and passed the puck to the Wolves RW Spencer Machacek who was camped right in front of the net for a direct shot and into the upper right hand corner of the net and brought the Wolves within 2 at 5-3.

The Rampage sealed the victory with 2:03 left in the game when Rampage veteran Ryan Hollweg scored his first goal of the season. Hollwog skated down the left hand boards and fired a shot at Macintyre that flew past his left shoulder and into the upper right corner of the net. Beaudoin and Stafford posted the assists on the goal.

Climie stopped 26 of 29 Wolves shots for his first Rampage win while Wolves net-minder Macintyre gave up 6 goals on 31 shots.

Beaudoin was awarded the first star of the game with four points (2 Goals and 2 Assists) on the night. In 2008, Beaudoin tallied an assist in one game with San Antonio and now has five career points in two games with the Rampage.

Beaudoin, Stafford & Climie all joined the Rampage from the Texas Stars and proved to be key players in the game as Beaudoin and Stafford combined for seven points for the Rampage.

The Rampage won the home opener for the sixth time in team history. The Rampage will take on the Texas Stars this Sunday at 3 PM at the AT&T Center.