HIGHLIGHTS:
SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio Rampage showed off their new grit and grind style as they defeated the Rockford IceHogs 2-1 in front of 8,254 fans at the AT&T Center on Saturday night.
The win is the second straight for the Rampage, who earned back-to-back wins for the first time this season after blanking the Manitoba Moose 5-0 on Tuesday morning.
“Our game simplified a little bit,” Rampage head coach Drew Bannister said. “We’re an easier team to play with and our game is simplified to the point where guys know what they are doing.”
The game remained scoreless nearly through two periods but both teams lit the lamp in the final moments of the middle stanza. San Antonio got on the scoreboard first when Austin Poganski netted his first of the season at 14:35. Rockford answered back as Jacob Nilsson redirecting a Carl Dahlstrom past San Antonio goaltender Jordan Binnington less than four minutes later to knot the score up 1-1 going into the final frame.
The game remained locked at one until the midway point of the third period when the Rampage took the lead for good. Tanner Kaspick fed Adam Musil, who buried the puck into the net from the middle of the crease, putting San Antonio ahead for good.
“Kaspick fed the puck to me right in the middle and I’m just glad it went in,” a smiling Musil said of his game-winning goal.
Binnington stopped 14 of 15 shots for his fourth win of the season, giving him a 1.98 goals-against average – which ranks third in the American Hockey League.
Overall, the Rampage has allowed just 32 shots on goal in the past two games. They held Manitoba to just 16 on Tuesday morning.
“We’re competing harder,” Musil said. “We’re playing a more simple game and that’s what is making us successful right now.”
UP NEXT:
The Rampage are now 5-12-0 (10 points) on the season and will return to the ice on Tuesday when they face the IceHogs (8-7-1, 17 pts) once again with the puck drop scheduled for 7 pm Central Time from the AT&T Center.
