The San Antonio Rampage will face division rival, the Oklahoma City Barons, tonight in the first game of a best-of-five series. The Rampage chose to play the first two games in OKC and host the final three games of the match up in San Antonio, provided the series goes the distance.
The Silver and Black (45-23-7-1) posted its best regular season and claimed its first division crown in franchise history this year. The last time they were in the playoffs was in 2011-12, when they beat the Chicago Wolves three games to two before falling to the Barons in five games in the quarterfinals. The Rampage are the three seed in the AHL’s Western Conference while Oklahoma City (41-27-5-3) is the six seed.
After a torrid run which saw the Silver and Black win 11 of 12 games, San Antonio dropped its final four games of the regular season, but two of those losses did come in overtime and the last game of the year saw the club rest most of its key veteran players, so their level of play didn’t fall off that much.
Despite entering the playoffs on a sour note, the Rampage drew a favorable first round opponent. San Antonio went 9-1-2 against the Barons this season, including a 5-1 road record at the Cox Convention Center.
Dan Ellis will get the start for the Silver and Black tonight. Ellis’ record in the AHL this season was 22-12-0-2 with a 2.71 GAA and two shutouts.
Puck drop for tonight’s game is at 8 p.m. EST. You can listen on The Ticket 760 or watch it by subscribing to AHLLive.
For more on the Florida Panthers‘ fine AHL alliliate, click here to visit the official site. Rampage player stats can be found by clicking here. You should also check out Running With The Herd and follow play-by-play man Dan Weiss on twitter to complete the circle of Silver and Black coverage.
Will the Rampage win the series against the Barons and advance?
| Yes | 34 |
| No | 4 |