San Antonio dominates in 5-2 win over the Chicago Wolves

It was a successful afternoon Sunday Afternoon at the AT&T Center as the Rampage continue to grow their lead in the AHL West Division with a convincing 5-2 win over the Chicago Wolves on Sunday as the Rampage did score 4 times in the first period.

 Including 2 goals in 33 seconds to take a quick 2-0 lead that the Wolves were never able to comeback as the Wolves also yanked starting goalie Edward Pasquale after the first intermission when San Antonio was up 4-1 as the Rampage scored the 5 goals from 5 different including Alex Picard who tied Mathieu Beaudoin for the team goal scoring lead with 9 this season.

It was also a strong showing for backup goaltender Matt Climie as he made 25 of 27 saves in the game as he helped the Rampage take the West Division Lead to 4 points over both the Milwaukee Admirals and Oklahoma City Barons are tied for 2nd with 21 points.

Other goal scorers for San Antonio included Danish Left Winger Mikkel Boedker who had a goal and assist in his 2nd straight game and takes his point total to 17 which he is starting to become a point a game player as he also had a 3 assist game in a 5-1 win over Abbotsford back on November 5.

Other Goal Scorers on Sunday Afternoon include Ryan Holloweg, Bracken Kearns and Viktor Tikhonov who each logged their 3rd goal of the season on a day where the Power Play was strong as they went 3-4 on the man advantage as well.

San Antonio takes their record to a division leading 12-4-1 for 25 points as the Rampage will prepare for a special field trip game on Wednesday as the Rampage will travel to Peoria which will start at 10:00 AM.

Here's a look at the upcoming San Antonio Rampage Schedule as the team will begin a huge stretch of road games as they have only 2 home games left in November. Overall, 8 of their next 11 games will be on the road which goes through the December 11th game against the Manitoba Moose.

Next 5 Games (All Games are on Sports Radio 760 The Ticket)

11/17: @ Peoria Rivermen   10:05 AM

11/19: VS. Milwaukee Admirals    7:00 PM

11/26: @ Houston Aeros   7:35 PM

11/27: @ Texas Stars    7:00 PM

11/28: VS. Milwaukee Admirals   3:00 PM

Chicago Wolves 2  San Antonio Rampage 5  (1-4, 1-0, 0-1)

San Antonio Rampage VS. Chicago Wolves Game Highlights

Game Story from the San Antonio Rampage Website

From San Antonio, Texas: The San Antonio Rampage jumped to an early lead scoring four first period goals and held on to a 5-2 victory over the Chicago Wolves on Sunday Afternoon at the AT&T Center. The Rampage improved 12-4-1 and lead the Western Conference with 25 points.

San Antonio's first goal came at 4:23 of the first period mark when Alex Picard tallied his fourth goal power play goal of the season. With only four seconds remaining on the Rampage power play, Picard redirected Mathieu Beaudoin shot from the left faceoff circle over goalie Edward Pasquale. Oliver Ekman-Larsson earned his first Rampage point recording the second assist on the play. Picard and Beaudoin both extended their point streaks to four games.

The Rampage struck again just 33 seconds later to extend their lead to 2-0 when Ryan Helloweg shot from the left faceoff circle beat Pasquale high stick side. David Brine and Ryan Weston supplied the assists each receiving their first point of the season.

Chicago Center Jason Krog cut the deficit in half to 2-1 at the 12:21 mark of the first period. Wolves left wing Frederick Petterersson centered a pass to Krog who tipped the puck over Rampage goalie Matt Climie's right shoulder. Andre Deveaux chipped in the second assist on Krog's second goal of the season.

The Rampage extended their lead to 3-1 when Bracken Kearns scored a power play goal at the 15:27 mark of the first stanza. Kearns redirected Mikkel Boedker's shot from the left faceoff circle over the stick of Pasquae and into the back of the net. Brett Maclean added the second helper with his 8th assist of the season .

San Antoino took a 4-1 advantage off Mikkel Boedker power play goal at the 17:41 mark of the opening frame Boedker one-timer from the right faceoff circle went high stick side past Pasquale. Ekman-Larsson earned his second point of the night as he and Tim Stapleton both combined for assists.

After letting in four goals in twenty minutes, Chicago Head Coach Don Lever substituted net- Drew Macintyre for Pasquale who finished the game with 13 saves on 17 shot attempts.

Chicago made it a 4-2 game at the 6:26 mark of the second period on Paul Postma's power play Goal. Postma fired a shot from the blue line that passed Climie low on the stick side and into the back of the net. Assisted were provided by Jared Ross and Jason Krog.

Viktor Tikhonov solidified the Rampage victory with a goal at 2:23 of the 3rd period into the third period. Picard passed to Tikhonov was camped out in front of the crease and his shot beat Macintyre high to the stick side. Beaudoin added the second assist for his second point of the night.

Climie turned aside 25 of 27 Wolves Shot attempts while Pasquale and Macintyre combined for 33 of saves on 38 Rampage shots.

The Rampage return to the ice on Wednesday morning when the team travels to the Peoria Civic Center Carver Arena to face the Rivermen for a 10:05 AM.

Corpus Christi uses strong 2nd period to end Winless Streak

Corpus Christi has had a string of very close but still losing to different teams and losing ground in the South Division as the team is currently 4 points back of 4th Place Topeka who currrently holds the 4th and final playoff spot. You have to go back to October 10 when the Icerays last won against the struggling New Mexico Mustangs who are cleary the weak link in the South Division this season.

After Stephen Fahlstedt and Dakota Klecha who scored for the Wildcats less then 30 seconds apart, that part the Icerays team in another funk as the Icerays were looking to end a winless streak.

But when 2 2nd period goals scored just under 2 minutes apart, plus a Ben Hughes goal midway through the 2nd period to put them up 3-2, the Icerays began to take over the game which included 2 Power Play Goals and a SH Goal Empty Netter to officially clinch the Icerays first win since October 10.

The two teams play again tonight at the American Bank Center before Corpus Christi leaves on a 7 game road-trip. While Wichita Falls will have a busy 3 game week next week, first a mid-week home game against the Texas Tornado, then a weekend series against the Amarillo Bulls next weekend.


Corpus Christi Icerays Players Heading to the Top Prospects Tournament

Wichita Falls Wildcats 2  Corpus Christi Icerays 4  (2-0, 0-3, 0-1)

Here's the Game Report from Greg Rajan of the Corpus Christi Caller

From Corpus Christi, Texas: It's a stretch to say the Icerays turned around their season with one game. But for one night, they saw a lot of things they'd been missing in recent weeks.

Corpus Christi snapped a five game winless streak on Thrusday Night, rallying for the game's final four goals to down the Wichita Falls Wildcats 4-2 at the American Bank Center.

The Icerays (7-8-2, 16 points) won in regularation for the first time since September 17 at the North American Hockey League Showcase. Corpus Christi also halted a four game winless stretch against the Wichita Falls Wildcats (12-5-2, 26 points).

"That paid off after a long week of hard practice," said Icerays defensemen Jason Suova, who had a goal and an assist. "We came out with a good start that we haven't had in a long time. When they scored those couple goals, it was like 'come on'. But we battled back like usual and finally held a lead and won in regulation against one of the top teams in the league."

Things didn't look auspicious first 15 minutes into the game, as the Icerays found themselves down 2-0 after the Wildcats Tanner Fahlstedt and Dakota Klecha scored scored goals 33 seconds apart.

"There weren't to many negatives things said," Hughes said. "We had a pretty good period other then those two breakdowns that lead to the goals. "We're a team that has a lot of heart. We came out strongly today and part of our identity is to come back and battles back when we fall behind."

The first goal came three minutes into the frame. Souva's shot came from the left point was stopped, but the rebound came to Beau Walker at the bottom of the right circle. The Icerays leading scorer promptly buried the puck into an empty net with five seconds left on the power play.

Corpus Christi needed less then two minutes to find the equalizer. After the Icerays won an offensive zone faceoff, Cody Milligan set up Joey Parizek in the low slot and he snapped in the low shot and he snapped a wirst shot past goalie Eric Garavaglia at 4:55.

The Icerays then took their first lead on the man advantage at 11:14. Jacob Diamond's inital shot was stopped, but the rebound went to Hughes in the high slot and he snapped it over Garavaglia and under the crossbar.

The Icerays then nursed that lead over the final 28 plus minutes, with some strong work from from goalie Phoenix Copley.

Hughes was sent off for holding with 1:34 left and then the Wildcats pulled Garavaglia for a six-on-four advantage, but Suova, from behind his goal line scored into the empty net with 54.5 seconds left to seal the victory.

"It was extremely tough," Hughes said of watching the final penalty kill. "I told Souva that I never celebrated so hard before in the penalty box. That's something where we earned our breaks. We hadn't been getting too many breaks all season. We really worked hard for it tonight and things went our way."

A Climie Shutout extends San Antonio's Winning Streak to 4

Matt Climie was able to get his first shutout in a Rampage uniform, plus goals both the 1st period and 3rd periods are good enough to extend the San Antonio Rampage winning streak to 4 games and gets them to 2nd Place in the AHL West Division.

In addition to Climie's 26 saves, goals by Alex Picard in the 1st and Brackon Kearns in the 3rd were enough to thwart off any comeback attempt by the Houston Aeros and protect the AT&T Center Ice as the Rampage go to 4-2 on home ice in the young season for the Rampage.

For the Houston Aeros, it was a strong effort by Aeros Goaltender Matt Hackett by keeping the Aeros in the game, but it wasn't enough despite a 24 save effort on 26 shots and was able to keep the game at 1-0 until the nearly the midway point in the 3rd period.

For Houston, this takes their record to 2-3-1 for 5 points and is currently in last place in the West Division.

When they are games with Southwest Teams are both involved. I always do the Home Team's Game Story.

Here's the Houston Aeros Game Story:

Houston Aeros 0  San Antonio Rampage 2  (0-1, 0-0, 0-1)

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

From San Antonio, Texas: San Antonio Rampage goaltender Matt Climie earned his first shutout of the season with a 2-0 win over the Houston Aeros in front of a sold out AT&T Center on Saturday Night. The Rampage raised $13,385 for their postgame jersey auction to benefit the Spurs Foundation.

The Rampage claimed the lead at the 10:23 mark of the first period, off a goal by Alex Picard. Right wing Viktor Tikhonov intercepted a pass a Houston Pass in the defensive zone and moved the puck to forward Mathieu Beaudoin at center ice. Beaudoin passed to Picard who received the puck at the blue line along the left wing wall. Picard spent toward the left goalpost slid the puck underneath the right leg padding of Aeros goaltender Matt Hackett. Beaudoin extended his point streak to six games to Tikhonov extended his point streak to five games.

San Antonio out shot Houston 15-5 in the beginning frame with 12 Rampage players registering shots.

The Rampage fended off 12 Houston Shots in the middle frame to hold on to a 1-0 lead heading into the third period.

A little over nine minutes into the 3rd period, the Rampage extended their lead to 2-0 as center Bracken Kearns scored on assists from Jeff May and Matt Pope. Pope passed the puck to May at the blue line who took a shot down the center that was redirected in front of Kearns to the high glove side of Hackett.

San Antonio held on to their 2-0 lead to ensure the victory. Matt Climie finished the day with 26 saves with Aeros net minder, Hackett, had 24 saves on 26 Rampage shots.

The Rampage killed off all five of the Aeros power play opportunities.

The Rampage return to the ice tomorrow when David Spina and the Peoria Rivermen at 3:00 PM at the AT&T Center. Tickets are available at the AT&T Center Box Office or by logging on to http://www.sarampage.com/

San Antonio uses 3 late goals to overcome Lake Erie, 4-2

After a tightly played game where the Lake Erie Monsters were looking to get a rare win in the lone star state as the Monsters haven't had much luck since entering the American Hockey League back in 2007. And for a while it looked like it would have happened after a strong showing by Monsters Goalie John Grahame as the Monsters lead the Rampage 2-1 until Sean Maclean and Bracken Kearns scored just 26 seconds apart late in the 3rd to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead where an empty net goal with a minute and a half put the game away to give the Rampage a 4-2 win.


Lake Erie Monsters 2  San Antonio Rampage 4  (0-0, 1-1, 1-3)

Game report from the San Antonio Rampage Website

From San Antonio, Texas: The Rampage scored three goals late in the final period to overcome Monsters and record their 2nd straight win with a 4-2 victory at AT&T Center on Wednesday Night.

Each team brought high energy and a strong twenty minutes of hockey to the table as the Monsters and Rampage went scoreless in the first period for the 2nd straight meeting. Lake Erie out-shot San Antonio 12-8, giving Rampage goaltender Matt Climie the majority of their work. Both teams were awarded one power play and neither was able to convert the man advantage.

The second period continued in the same fashion, with many great opportunities missed, until Lake Erie center Mark Olver was able to break the middle frame. Greg Mauldin sent a cross ice pass from left to right to teammate Ray Macias for an open shot. His shot nailed the cross bar and spun outward, re-entering the ice to the left side of the goal, where Olver was waiting with half the net open as Climie was unable to recover to the opposite side in enough time.

The Rampage refused to go down without a fight as left winger Mikkel Boedker punched back with 10 seconds left in the period to make it a 1-1 game. Boedker received a pass from Brett Maclean as he skated down the right side of the glass. He then cut across toward center ice to better angle himself for a shot and complete a head-on attempt at the net as the puck flew over the left shoulder of Monsters netminder John Grahame.

Coutning back and fourth action, the Monsters scored a little over five minutes into the third period to reclaim the lead. Monsters center Mike Carmen sent a pass right behind him to right wing Matthew Ford in an attempt to clear from the Rampage's defensive pressure.

Ford saw an open shot and fired an unlikely shot as he pressed against the right wall above the faceoff circle. Climie not ready for the shot, allowed the puck to slip over his left shoulder and through the pipes increasing the score to 2-1.

The Rampage rallied back from the tip in from right winger Maclean with just over four minutes to go in the game. Boedker drove across the blue line to save the puck from being cleared down the Rampage zone during the power play. He quickly rose to his feet and fired a long pass aimed toward the goal, as Maclean was posted outside the crease. He tapped the puck behind Grahame giving the Rampage new life as they were once again tied at 2-2.

Bring the building back to their feet just 26 seconds later, Bracken Kearn lit the lamp for the Rampage's first lead of the evening. Left Winger Alex Picard sped down the left side of the ice and made a pass to Kearn who was skating adjacent down the center. He was able to redirect the pass low, beneath the goaltending padding to make it a 3-2 lead.

As a last resort with a minute and a half left in the contest, the Monsters waived off their goaltender and added a sixth skater in hopes of re-tying the game. However, the plan backfired as the puck escaped the possession of Lake Erie and was sent soaring towards the empty net. Rampage left winger Ryan Halloweg scrambled towards the puck and capitalizing on the easy opportunity by tapping the puck in to seal the 4-2 victory.

In his 100th professional game, Matt Climie stopped 31 of 33 Monsters shots to earn his third win of the season while Grahame stopped 30 of 33 Rampage shots.

the Rampage will commerce in a three-in-three series this weekend. Their first stop is the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City as they play the Barons for the first time in franchise history. The action starts at 7:05 PM.

Bossier-Shreveport wins in a goal fest against Tulsa 6-4

Bossier-Shreveport continues to have Tulsa's Number in recent years as the Mudbugs beat the Tulsa Oilers for their 15th straight win over the Oilers as the Mudbugs go to 3-0-0 and temporally go to the top of the Berry Conference (South) while the Oilers have lost their first game of the year after winning a home-and-home series against the Wichita Thunder on opening weekend of the season.

Bossier-Shreveport has scored a ton of goals in the early season as the Mudbugs beat the Mississippi Riverkings scored 10 on opening night against the Riverkings as they beat them 10-1. So far through 3 games, Mudbugs forwards Brett Smith and Justin Aikins are 1-and-2 on the scoring leaders as Brett Smith has already scored 5 goals and has added 4 assists for 9 points. While Aikins has scored 7 points (3G 4A) as the Mudbugs have already scored 18 goals in 3 games (avg. 6 goals a game) so far.

For Tulsa, the Oilers are looking to turn things around as the Oilers have been in the bottom rung of the CHL the last several years, last year hopefully was a springboard as the Oilers just missed the playoffs as they were beaten by 5 points to then expansion Missouri Mavericks last season. Bossier-Shreveport on the other hand had a great season by finishing 3rd in the North and beat Colorado in the Conference Semifinals and pushed the eventual Presidents Cup Champion Rapid City Rush in 7 games.

Coming up later this week for the two teams will match up twice against the Allen Americans (Thursday & Friday), then will head to the other side of the Metroplex for a Saturday Night tilt against the Texas Brahmas.

For Tulsa, it's a trip up north to Illinois as the Oilers will face the Blommington Prairie Thunder on Saturday Night.


Game Story from the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs Website

Tulsa Oilers 4  Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs 6  (3-2, 1-4, 0-0)

From Bossier-City, Louisana: Three unanswered goals to end the second period helped the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs to a 6-4 win over the Tulsa Oilers on Thursday Night at the Century Tel Center. The Bugs are now the only 3-0-0 team in the Central Hockey League after earning their 15th straight victory against the Tulsa Oilers.

The forward line of Justin Aikins, David Rutherford and Jeff Martins accounted for four of Bossier-Shreveport's Goals and added three assists. Rutherford scored two goals (including the game winner) and added an assist, when Martens scored for the first time as a Mudbug and chipped in two helpers as well.

The Bugs stated quick with two goals in the first 4:09 of the contest. First Aikins beat a defender on the Rush before backhanding the puck short sided on Trevor Cann, and then the Martens knocked home a rebound following an Oilers turnover in their own zone. Tulsa answered with three goals later in the period, started with Jack Combs power play tally at 9:18. Combs added a shorthanded goal less then three minutes later and Chad Costello capped off the period with a breakaway goal to make it 3-2 Oilers after one.

The Mudbugs tied at 3-3 with Jamie Milam scored on the power play early in the second, but Costello scored his second goal of the night on a rebound off the end boards to re-take the lead for Tulsa. David Rutherford wasted little time in tying it at 4-4, beating Cann from between the circles for his first goal of the season at 14:54. The Bugs went on top to stay less then three minutes later when Rutherford scored again, backhanding a shot over Cann's right pad to finish off a nice passing play with Martens and Aikins to make it 5-4.

Brett Smith extended the lead to 6-4 late in the 2nd period, crashing the net the force in his own rebound off a Tulsa player in front of the net with 1:03 left in the period. Tyler Simms relived Cann in goal for the Oilers, who pressed hard in the third period, but no goals were scored in the final frame despite an 11-2 shot advantage for the Oilers.

The Bugs will take one day off before jumping in their first set of three games in three days against Allen. The Mudbugs host the Americans on Thursday and Friday at the Century Tel Center before traveling to Texas for their first meeting against the Brahmas on Saturday Night at the NYTEX Sports Center.

Great seats are still available for the games vs. Allen on Thursday and Friday, so contact the team office at 318-752-BUGS for more info on season tickets, mini plans and group tickets. Individual tickets are available through Ticket Master at 318-741-9700, online at http://www.ticketmaster.com/ or at the Century Tel Center main box office.

Oklahoma City Barons get first ever Shutout against the Lake Erie Monsters

After a brutal start to the season and a few bell ringers as well. The Barons are beginning to get it together with their 3rd straight win and Martin Gerber getting the Barons first ever shutout in team history as the Barons got goals from Shawn Belle, Liam Reddox and last year's top goal scorer Alexander Giroux who had 50 during the regular season last year which helped the Hershey Bears win the AHL Calder Cup last year.

Beyond that, a strong defensive performance plus a PP that went 2/4 on the night and a 35 save performance from Martin Gerber gave the North Division Foes their shutout loss of the season. After three straight losses to start the season and getting a single goal in all three games, the Barons have outscored their opposition 15-5 in the 3 wins which included an 8-2 thrashing of the Houston Aeros after the Barons got beat the by the Aeros twice in their first three games of the season.

For the Barons, they will now head north for a 5 game road trip which includes a nationally Televised Game on Sunday against the Hamilton Bulldogs on both the CBC in Canada and the NHL Network in the USA. Other games include the Toronto Marlies on Saturday Evening, plus games against the Grand Rapids Griffins, Chicago Wolves and the Peoria Rivermen as well on this road-trip.

As for the Lake Erie Monsters, their tour of the Southwest continues with a game tonight against the San Antonio Rampage, plus a trip to Austin on to face the Texas Stars on Friday Night, then the Southwest trip wraps up on Sunday against the Houston Aeros.

Lake Erie Monsters 0  Oklahoma City Barons 3  (0-0, 0-2, 0-1)

Lake Erie Monsters VS. Oklahoma City Barons Game Highlights

Oklahoma City Barons Photo Gallery

Game Story by Ryan Aber of The Daily Oklahoman

The Barons won their third consecutive AHL Game Tuesday, beating Lake Erie 3-0 in front of 2,784 at the Cox Convention Center.

"Every period we play, we get more and more confidence," Barons Goaltender Martin Gerber said. "The more you play, the better you feel and the better the team has played.

Gerber was the first star, turning in the Barons first ever shutout and making several spectacular with his glove to keep the Monsters off the board.

"Now he's starting to get into rhythm, which is good for us," Nelson said. "He's just playing well. You've got to give him credit to our defense as well and our forwards as well. The opportunities that we are giving up, a lot of them are from the outside, so Gerbie made the first save and we cleared out of the rebounds."

The Barons return to action against San Antonio at 7:05 PM. Friday, starting a tough weekend that includes a pair of road games at Toronto and Hamilton.

"We wanted to get into the weekend with some positive momentum," Nelson said. "This is a big win for us, just the way we won not giving up any goals and being able to score on the power play."

After dropping their first three games of the season, the Barons have turned things around in a big way.

It started against the Monsters with a 4-3 come-from-behind win at home Friday and has carried over throughout a tough 4 game in 5 night stretch.

The Power Play that gave them so many problems in the initial losing streak has turned into one of the team's strengths.

The Barons started the scoring on the power play against the Monsters, Shawn Belle swatting the puck off Lake Erie's Mike Carmen and over the left shoulder of goaltender at 1:22 of the 2nd period for the Barons first goal.

Then the Barons put the game away with another goal on the power play, with Alexander Giroux bashing Bacashihua just six seconds into a power play at 7:50 in the third to make it 3-0.

"It's going to take a few games to get accustomed to each other," Belle said. "Brad Moran played overseas. Giroux played in Hershey. I played in Hamilton. There are a lot of different elements. You start to learn where each other is going to be and now it's clicking."

The Power Play isn't the only special teams unit that has been solid of late for the Barons.

After holding the Monsters scoreless on the power plays Tuesday, the Barons have now killed off 21 consecutive penalties.

Liam Reddox scored the other Barons goal, putting them up 2-0 with his breakaway goal 12:00 into the second period.

"He's a good energy player for us," Nelson said. "He plays in all situations for us. He's just a solid all-around player. We're very fortunate to have him here."

 Reddox and Giroux, both held scoreless for the first two games, have now scored in consecutive games. Giroux, who lead the AHL in Goals the last two seasons, scored twice in Sunday's win in Houston.

The performance came with Oilers senior advisor and former coach Patt Quinn watching atop the arena with Barons GM Bill Scott.

Quinn will be with the team often this season as he works with the Oilers developmental system. He'll stay with the team through Friday's Game.