AT&T Center – The San Antonio Rampage traded away their best player in Drew Shore for Corban Knight, but it looks like they haven’t missed a beat as they took the ice for the first time since the deal was made. Knight shined in his Silver and Black debut as San Antonio got their biggest home win of the season.
Eight players recorded multiple point games as the Rampage defeated the Iowa Wild (13-21-1-1, 28 points) 8-3 in front of 9,117 fans at the AT&T Center on Saturday night.
Iowa got on the scoreboard before fans settled into their seats. Zack Mitchell put the puck past San Antonio goaltender Dan Ellis to give the Wild the early lead just 48 seconds after the opening faceoff. The Rampage answered as Josh McFadden tallied his first goal of the season, beating Wild netminder Johan Gustafsson to tie the game at a goal apiece.
The Rampage took their first lead of the game at the 11:49 mark of the first period as Mark Mancari let a shot go from the left circle that was deflected into the net past Gustafsson. Corban Knight assisted on the goal for his first point in a San Antonio sweater and Greg Zanon was credited with the other helper. Iowa tied the game with a goal from Matt Dumba and Marc Hagel lit the lamp with 14 seconds remaining in the period to put the Wild up 3-2 going into the second period.
San Antonio tied the game with Connor Brickley’s tenth goal of the season at 11:00 mark of the middle frame and Garrett Wilson gave the Silver and Black the lead for good with a power play tally just over two minutes later to put the Rampage ahead 4-3 going into the third and final period of play.
The Rampage would score four goals in the final period to seal the win. Jesse Blacker got in on the scoring as the lit the lamp off a cross-crease pass to put the puck home past past Gustafsson for another power play goal. Logan Shaw netted his tenth goal of the season on the breakaway to put the Rampage up 6-3.
Steven Kampfer added to the San Antonio lead with a one-timer from the point with just over four minutes later. With time running down, Brett Olsen punched the puck home to beat backup Iowa netminder Parker Milner for the final time and seal the 8-3 win for the Rampage.
“We put up a lot of shots and got a lot of bodies there too,” Rampage head coach Tom Rowe said. “You have to keep it simple and as long as you keep it simple, you’re going to get good results.”
San Antonio outshot Iowa 52-31 for the game, including a 15-8 second period. Iowa scored on their lone man advantage opportunity of the game, while the Silver and Black were 3-for-6.
Ellis made 28 saves on 31 Iowa shots, while Gustafsson stopped 37 of 43 shots he faced. Milner came on in relief made seven saves on nine shots.
The Rampage are now 21-12-3-0 (45 points) on the season and will return to the ice tomorrow afternoon when they close out their weekend set with a game against the Toronto Marlies at 4 p.m. at the AT&T Center.
