AT&T Center – A funky goal that saw the puck go off a Rampage skater and past netminder Sam Brittain spelled what type of night it was for the San Antonio Rampage. Getting outshot, turning the puck over and playing 20 out of 60 minutes makes for a loss and an unhappy coach.
The Rampage scored twice in the third period, but it was not enough as the silver and black fell 3-2 to the Texas Stars (38-22-13-1) in front of 8,205 fans at the AT&T Center on Tuesday night.
Texas got things going early as Travis Morin put home a rebound past Brittain to put the Stars up 1-0 just 1:32 into the game. After giving up the early goal, Brittain recovered to make multiple saves to keep his team down a goal going into the second period.
The Stars continued to pour it on in the middle frame. Brendan Ranford wristed a shot over Brittain’s glove at 1:40 to put Texas up by two goals. Kevin Henderson added to the lead when he sent a shot towards the net that deflected off two Rampage players and through Brittain’s legs to put Texas up 3-0 going into the final period of play.
San Antonio finally lit the lamp in the third period as Corban Knight received the pass from John McFarland, beating Texas goaltender Jussi Rynnas to cut the deficit to 3-1 at 6:05. The Rampage cut the Texas lead to one when Dany Heatly passed the puck to Garrett Wilson, who buried the puck to make it 3-2. The Stars would hang on to seal the win.
Texas outshot San Antonio 36-34, including 16-5 in the opening period. Two of the three Texas goals were off of San Antonio turnovers.
“Some of the guys in the room thought it was going to be an easy night,” Rampage head coach Tom Rowe said. “A handful of our guys were ready to play and the rest were out to lunch.”
Brittain made 33 saves on 36 Texas shots, while Rynnas stopped 32 of 34 San Antonio shots he faced. San Antonio finished 1-for-6 on the power play, while the Stars were 0-for-6 on their man advantage chances.
The Rampage are now 45-22-6-1 (97 points) on the season and will return to the ice on Friday night when they face the Texas Stars once again at 7:30 p.m. at the AT&T Center.
