The San Antonio Rampage capped a busy week, that saw the team pick up five points in five games since the last time we checked in, with a one-goal loss to the Oklahoma City Barons on Tuesday morning. The Rampage also named Tom Rowe their new head coach after Peter Horachek took over the coaching reins for the parent Florida Panthers.
- On Tuesday November 5th, San Antonio played the first of two games in Abbotsford and fell to the Heat by a 2-1 count. Markus Granlund opening the scoring for the home side with 29 seconds left in the first period. Former Panthers’ prospect Corban Knight and defenseman Mark Cundari collected the assists on the 5-on-3 power-play goal. The Rampage evened the game at 14:02 of the second on John Lee‘s first goal of the season. Colby Robak and Drew Shore combined to set up the goal. The Heat scored the winning goal on another 5-on-3 in the third period. Blair Jones fired the deciding marker past Michael Houser, who finished with 23 saves, at 13:28 of the final frame. The loss was Houser’s first of the season. Joni Ortio turned aside 23 of 24 Rampage shots to post the win for Abbotsford.
- The second tilt between the two teams, on Wednesday the 6th, saw Dov Grumet-Morris and Joey MacDonald get the call in goal for their respective clubs. Ben Street scored in the first period and Ben Hanowski added another in the second to stake the Heat to a 2-0 lead. San Antonio’s Garrett Wilson finally got one past MacDonald at the twelve minute mark of the middle frame. It was Wilson’s fourth of the season, with Alex Petrovic and Colby Robak drawing the assists. Bobby Butler would even the game, notching his third of the campaign. with just under six minutes left in regulation on an assist from Robak. After a scoreless overtime, the game would go to the shootout where Street and Jones scored in the third and fourth round, while San Antonio failed to get one by MacDonald, giving Abbotsford a 3-2 win. Grumet-Morris made 22 saves in the losing effort.
- With Tom Rowe now behind the bench, the Rampage returned home for a Saturday match-up with the Oklahoma City Barons. This time, San Antonio would nab the 3-2 shootout win. A healthy Steve Pinizzotto, seeing his first action of the season, opened the scoring at the 7:36 with his first of the year from Eric Selleck and John Lee. Denis Grebeshkov (first period) and Denis Nesbitt (second period) would score to give the Barons a 2-1 lead after two. Vincent Trocheck would even the game with a 5-on-3 power-play goal at 12:12 of the final stanza. The goal was set up by Mike Mottau and Greg Rallo, and was Trocheck’s sixth of the campaign. Jared Gomes scored to end the shootout, which was tied 1-1 after six rounds, giving the Rampage their fifth victory of the season. Michael Houser made 21 stops in 65 minutes, and five more in the shootout, to secure the win, raising his record to 4-1.
- Sunday saw the Rampage remain at home and defeat the visiting Milwaukee Admirals in front of 7,117 fans. San Antonio won again in a shootout by a 3-2 margin. For the second-straight game, Steve Pinizzotto would open the scoring, this time with a second period tally at 14:19, with helpers going to John Lee and Quinton Howden. Jed Ortmeyer would extend the lead just 81 seconds later, with Drew Shore and Greg Rallo getting credit for the helpers. Milwaukee would get a second period goal from Bryan Rodney and another in the third frame from Simon Moser to forge a 2-2 tie. Jon Matsumoto scored the only goal in the shootout to provide the winning margin. Dov Grumet-Morris finished the game with 31 saves and was money in the shootout, blunting all five Milwaukee attempts. San Antonio evened its record at 6-6-0-1 before heading out on the road for three games.
- The Rampage started their road trip out with a Tuesday morning meeting versus the Barons in Oklahoma City, and were edged a 3-2 count in regulation time. The Rampage came back from one-goal deficits twice, but couldn’t match the third Barons’ goal in the final period to send the game to overtime. Anton Lander lit the lamp to give the Barons the lead early in the second period before Bobby Butler tallied to knot the game at one apiece. Butler’s goal was set up by NHL veteran Ryan Whitney and Alex Petrovic. Roman Horak put OKC back ahead with a rebound goal at 1:46 of the the third. Whitney then notched his first goal, in his first game, for the Rampage, with assists going to Denny Urban and Drew Shore to even the game at two. Linus Omark would beat San Antonio starter Jacob Markstrom with 3:10 remaining in the contest to give the Barons the win and hand coach Rowe his first loss. Markstrom, who was sent down on Sunday, made 20 saves in the loss. Omark’s goal was his fifth of the season against San Antonio, giving him nine so far for the year. The Rampage fell to 6-7-0-1 and are currently 11th in the Western Conference.
San Antonio continues the road trip with games against the Iowa Stars on Friday and the Rockford IceHogs on Saturday afternoon.
For complete Rampage stats click here.