The Texas Stars have won their last two games, and are getting ready to leave Texas for the next couple of weeks as they head into the home stretch of their regular season. The Stars are in a dogfight in the Western Conference’s West Division for the top spot. They currently trail the front-running Chicago Wolves by nine points with 12 games remaining in the regular season. They will play Chicago twice more, both games are next weekend.
Texas split last weekend’s back-to-back set with the San Antonio Rampage, one game apiece. In Friday night’s game, Stars goalie Matt Climie notched 29 saves, but it wasn’t enough as Aaron Gagnon scored Texas’ lone goal, and the team fell 2-1 t San Antonio. On Saturday, the offense bounced back, and the T-Stars posted five goals on their South Texas rivals. Francis Wathier had two goals and an assist, and Gagnon got on the scoresheet again, this time with the eventual game-winning goal, as Texas won 5-4.
Last night, the Stars hosted the Milwaukee Admirals in Cedar Park. Texas’ powerplay was instrumental, as they scored three goals with the advantage, and went on to win the game, 4-3. Stars netminder Brent Krahn got the nod between the pipes, and stopped 26 of 29 on the night.
Texas will begin a 14-day and seven-game road trip in Rockford this Saturday. The Stars will then make the short jump to Peoria for an afternoon game against the Rivermen on Sunday.
Texas added an amateur player to their roster on Tuesday, signing defenseman Tyler Ludwig (twin brother of T-Stars defenseman Trevor Ludwig) to an ATO contract. Tyler finished a four-year career at Western Michigan University this year, where he was a captain on the squad.
The Stars also announced their Clear List this week – the list of players who are eligible to play in the postseason for Texas. The Stars Clear Day Roster consists of 13 forwards, seven defensemen and two goaltenders:
Goaltenders: Matt Climie, Brent Krahn
Defensemen: Maxime Fortunus, Ethan Graham, Andrew Hutchinson, Dan Jancevski, Trevor Ludwig, Garrett Stafford, Matt Stephenson.
Forwards: Mathieu Beaudoin, Jamie Benn (recalled), Aaron Gagnon, Sergei Korostin, Perttu Lindgren, Scott McCulloch, Travis Morin, Warren Peters, Greg Rallo, Raymond Sawada, Colton Sceviour, Francis Wathier, Landon Wilson.
Players in Residence but not on the Clear Day list: Luke Gazdic, Mathieu Tousignant.
Past Week’s Transactions:
3/15/10 Tyler Shelast, F – Reassigned by Dallas (NHL) from Allen (CHL)
3/16/10 Tyler Ludwig, D – signed ATO contract.
