Rampage Game Thread: Texas 12/27/16

Before the beloved Rampage jet off to the West Coast for a two-week road trip they have to complete a 3 game set against the Stars with a home game tonight. The first two have been 1-goal losses that leave San Antonio with a 12-15-2 record.

Roster/Injury Report

- Jeremy Smith was called up to the Avs last night, . With Varly’s injury issues it stands to reason that we’ll be seeing both Smith & Martin shuttling back and forth as needed. Martin was ineffective last week after not seeing action for 12 days. The Avs staff need to manage these two so that a) the Rampage have effective goalies available and b) the Avs have someone that can effectively relieve or even start if necessary. Kent Simpson was once again called up from the Eagles to take the spot.

Glad to see Smith getting a callup, he deserves it. He’s been called up various times over the past few years by the Preds, Jackets and Bruins but never played in an NHL game. I doubt if it plays into it but he’s also slightly less of a cap drag compared to Spencer Martin. Penny saved is a penny earned.

- Matt Lashoff was released from his PTO last week. Not that I enjoy seeing anyone get fired but he wasn’t a good fit for the team.

- Chris Bigras didn’t play in the Texas games last week like we were led to believe. He’s considered day-to-day with a still undisclosed injury - unless you count Steve Downie’s maniacal rants on twitter as disclosure. Hopefully we see him tonight.

- Alex Ranger returned to the lineup last Thursday after an undisclosed injury.

What we know:

Vogelhuber (LBI), Elson (LBI), Geertsen (?BI), St Amant (?BI) were all out last week and not skating

Bigras (?BI), Clark (concussion) were skating with the team, Clark in non-contact

Reid Petryk missed parts of the 3rd period on Wednesday and didn’t dress on Thursday. No word on whether that’s injury related or coach’s decision.

Fast Facts: Texas

TEX 2 - SAR 1

Shots: 31-33 (48.4%) Sislo led with 5, Whitney 4
Special Teams: PP 0/4, PK 3/4
Jeremy Smith saved 31/33 (.939)
Goal: Compher (7)

TEX 5 - SAR 4

Shots: 37-24 (60.7%) Sislo led with 7, Nunn/Rocco/OB/Corbs 4
Special Teams: PP 1/6, PK 3/4
Martin saved 11/15 (.733) and was pulled halfway through, Smitty saved 8/9 (.889)
Goals: O’Brien (3), Sislo (5), Siemens (2), Grimaldi (9)

Preview: Texas part 3

After the gut-punch loss in the final seconds Thursday the Rampage need to rebound and get some points. The playoffs aren’t happening this year, at the current playoff pace they need to go 36-10-1 from now til April, but they can be better. Spencer Martin also needs a good bounceback performance after getting yanked for giving up 4 goals by midway through the 2nd period.

Lines/Pairs from Thursday

Whitney - O’Brien - Sislo
Greer - Compher - Grimaldi
Nantel - Bourke - Nunn
Henley - Belzile - Ranger

Siemens - Boikov
Jardine - Lindholm
Young - Corbett

Martin
Smith

Schedule

Rampage vs Stars 8pm ET tonight on Ticket760

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This one goes head-to-head with the Avs/Flames, anything important will show up in this weekend’s article.