San Antonio Rampage
35-23-2-0 5th in West Div. - 72pts
Last game: Defeated Abbotsford (3-2) on Mar. 2nd
Leaders
Goals: Alex Picard 19
Assists: Garrett Stafford 26
Points: Stafford 38
+/-: Nolan Yonkman +6
PIM: Dane Byers 120
Wins: Matt Climie 22
GAA: Climie 2.46
Save %: Climie .921
AT
Texas Stars
32-21-4-5 4th in West Div. -73pts
Last game: Lost to Abbotsford (5-3) on Mar. 1st
Leaders
Goals: Greg Rallo 19
Assists: Dan Spang 23
Points: Rallo 38
+/-: Travis Morin/Spang +10
PIM: Luke Gazdic 91
Wins: Richard Bachman 21
GAA: Bachman 2.30
Save %: Bachman .924
Cedar Park Center, Cedar Park TX
7:30pm CST
Radio: Ticket 760 AM
Stream: www.ticket760.com
Last week, I called for the Rampage to turn into the 2010 Texas Stars. So far, they are listening. They have ramped up the physicality and grinding style, with a focus on defense, that led the first year Stars to the Calder Cup Finals. They are, at times, still making terrible decisions with the puck individually, but as a team they have really clamped down. This was evident in both the 3-2 shootout win last Saturday vs. the Stars and on Wednesday's big 3-2 win over Abbotsford. All 3 goals came from being in the right place at the right time (with a little luck) or hard work and attacking the net. With leading scorer Brett MacLean a scratch due to a lower body injury, the Rampage relied on secondary scoring for all 3 goals with Matt Watkins netting 2 goals, both assisted by Ned Lukacevic, and Matt Pope picking up a rare goal for the game winner. On the Pope goal, David Brine won a faceoff just outside the heat zone to himself, split the defense, and fired a shot that Pope cleaned up on the back door.
This hard work and determination is going to have to continue the rest of the season if the Rampage want to make a playoff run. It continues tonight as the team travels to Cedar Park to take on the Stars in a huge divisional road game. The Rampage are 3-3-2-0 on the season vs the Stars including a 1-1-2-0 record in the Austin suburb.
Back to those backbreaking mistakes, they need to stop. The last 4 goals given up by the Rampage have been a direct result of a major mental or physical mistake made by defensemen. Max Goncharov has been the biggest culprit lately, being directly responsible for 2 of those goals. But it's not limited to rookies. Nolan Yonkman got the puck tied up in his skates late in the 3rd and was unable to clear the zone on a relatively routine play. If the guys can tighten down and just play smart hockey, they can really be a dangerous team going forward. If it continues, it's going to be a tough stretch run. There are some damn good teams on the schedule and the mistakes really need to be kept to a minimum because, unlike the first half of the season, the offense just isn't explosive enough to make up for those mistakes.
I'd like to take a short paragraph to really praise Ned Lukacevic. He has been a real surprise over the last couple of weeks. He plays hard, is deceptively fast, and has an absolute cannon for a shot. I'd love to see him get more time at the point on the PP. I hope to see more good things from Ned the rest of the season.
The Rampage return home tomorrow night to battle Syracuse on Faith and Family Night. Until then, let's get at least a point tonight and LETS GO RAMPAGE!!
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