Gameday Preview: Stars at San Antonio Rampage

Texas Stars 16-11-1-1, 34 pts #6 West Division

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San Antonio Rampage 20-7-1-0, 41 pts #1 West Division

December 17th at 7:00 PM

AT&T Center, San Antonio, TX

Texas and the San Antonio Rampage last faced each other on December 3rd. Since then San Antonio has won 4 of their 5 games, losing only to the Aeros, a surprise contender in the West. Texas meanwhile has been decimated by callups and eeked out a 3-3-1 record since the last matchup, putting Tyler Beskorowany out in net for 5 of those 7 games.

Texas's callups to Dallas are all back for tonight's visit to the Alamo City. Richard Bachman, likely chief among those returning, had previously stacked up a 9-4-1 record with 2.01 GAA and .931 SV%. Also on the roster again is center Aaron Gagnon, who had a successful visit to Dallas. Last year's leading scorer is a bit off his pace from last season (58 points in 78 games compared to 9 in 20), but Texas will surely benefit from his return to the lineup. His return will be especially welcome on special teams, where Texas ranks in the bottom 8 in the league in both PP and PK.

For San Antonio, it's all the usual suspects on offense against the Stars. Andrew Ebbett leads the season series with 0-3-0. Goal leaders are Mathieu Beaudoin and Alexandre Picard, both with goals and zero assists. Against the Rampage, Texas forwards Morin and McCulloch lead the charge with 5 and 4 points respectively. No word on McCulloch's return, though it was expected this week.

The Rampage have been riding Matt Climie this season, trotting him out in the last 4 games for the club and all 4 games against the Stars. Texas holds a 3-0-0-1 record this season over the West Division's top team. The Stars will hope to continue that mastery tonight in San Antonio despite recent road mediocrity.

Stars injury/call up report:
Krahn (lower body)
McCulloch (upper body)

Website: sarampage.com
Blog (unofficial): Rampage with Tony U.
Twitter: @SARampage
Twitter: @SARampage_Voice (play-by-play for SA)