Texas Drops Preseason Opener 4-1 in San Antonio

Brad McClure (credit: Texas Stars)

The Texas Stars allowed three goals in the third period to fall to the Rampage in their preseason opener on Thursday night. It was really a game in which the coaching staff were able to get a read on some players who could help out the AHL club down the line but will spend a lot of time with the Steelheads this season.

The players to watch closely were Riley Tufte, Tony Calderone, and Emil Djuse. None made much of an impact, but Tufte did draw a penalty with his speed in the first period. It was a positive sign to see Reece Scarlett play top pair minutes on defense after suffering a season-ending ACL injury last year.

Manning the pipes, Tomas Sholl was probably the best player for the Stars, only leaving the game with a few minutes remaining. He made several sprawling saves while the blue line had several miscues during play which led to a couple of the tallies.

After the Rampage struck first in the opening frame, Steelheads standout Zack Andrusiak responded with a marker in the second period to tie the game. The Stars couldn't get much going from there, and it led to the trio of Rampage goals in the third frame. One was an empty netter.

The Stars will do this again on Friday night in Cedar Park. That'll be all for the dress rehearsals.