“Rampage Roundup” is a weekly feature at The Sunshine Skate to keep you in touch with your favorite future Panthers.
Summary:
With decisive wins in their past two games, the Rampage are returning to form after a lackluster beginning to the year. On Saturday, the team hosted the Rochester Americans in a rematch of the January 7th game, resulting in a 5–3 San Antonio win over the visitors.
Scoring started quickly with a goal by Andrew Yogan, his fifth of the season, early in the first period rebounded off a shot by John McFarland. Rochester’s Mikhail Grigorenko followed it up with an equalizer less than five minutes later off shot that hit the crossbar and fell into the net. Rochester took their only lead of the game nearly halfway through the second period, with a backhand goal by Zac Dalpe. However, Bobby Butler, Mark Mancari, and Connor Brickley each scored within seven minutes to give the Rampage a 4–2 lead. Entering the third, Ryan Martindale wasn’t far behind as he scored early to make it a 5–2 game. A second goal by Grigorenko for the Amerks a few minutes later was the last tally for the night. Despite being outshot by Rochester, especially in the first and final frames, the Rampage were able to stay focused with Dan Ellis in net and a formidable PK that shut down all five of Rochester’s opportunities.
The Rampage followed up Saturday’s victory with another, this time over the Texas Stars, 5 – 2. The Stars were the first to get on the board with an early goal by Jesse Root. Ryan Martindale secured the equalizer two minutes later, assisted by Rocco Grimaldi. The Rampage were able to take the lead in the second with goals by Brickley and Logan Shaw less than two minutes apart. Early in the third period, Corban Knight got on the board for the first time as a member of the Rampage, assisted by Steven Kampfer. Bobby Butler followed suit with his 17th of the season a minute later. A power play goal by the Stars’ Scott Glennie 8 minutes into the final frame wasn’t enough to get the Stars back into the game. The Rampage won for the fourth time in the five meetings the two teams have had this season.
Impact Players:
The entire Rampage penalty kill unit has been great as of late, allowing only two goals in the last 20 PKs, dating back to the January 6th game against the Flames. Last night’s ejection of Shane O’Brien, due to game misconduct for abuse of officials in the first period, showed the Rampage could adjust to losing a veteran defenseman and recover to make multiple short-handed attempts. As a team that logs fairly high penalty minutes each game, the penalty kill will become more and more important as playoffs approach.
Corban Knight has transitioned smoothly to the Rampage, picking up at least a point in each of his games for San Antonio and continuing a five game point streak that extends to his time with Adirondack. He notched his first goal for the Rampage last night and got two assists against Rochester on Saturday. While centering two of the team’s main goal scorers (Connor Brickley and Mark Mancari) certainly doesn’t hurt, Knight’s easy adjustment is also a major reflection of his skill.
Following his return from injury, Jonathan Racine has picked up his first points of the season, with two assists versus Rochester and one against the Stars. The defenseman has struggled all season, managing to register 79 penalty minutes in his 35 games so far but his play in recent games could be what he needs to turn it around, as he’s managed to get points in consecutive games for the first time in his professional career.
In a last minute change, Alex Petrovic will replace Bobby Butler in the AHL All-Star game this weekend as Butler and his wife are expecting their first child! Congratulations to them both!
Upcoming games:
The Rampage have a short road trip this weekend to visit the Lake Erie Monsters in Cleveland for two games on Thursday, January 22nd and Saturday, the 24th before returning to Texas. Vincent Trocheck will be joining the team for those two games, having been sent down by Florida for the duration of the NHL All-Star break to get in some extra playing time. While the Monsters are a Western Conference matchup, with a 16–16–3-3 record, they rank well behind the 23–13–3–0 Rampage and will be a good opportunity for the team to continue their win streak.
Extra:
The players visited the AstroBowl to support Face-Off Against Kid’s Cancer a few days ago! Adorable.
Natalija can be reached for contact on Twitter.
