William Abate/AHL
After a dominating performance on Friday night that saw San Antonio out shoot the wild 47-25, yet lose 5-3, the Rampage bounced back with a huge come from behind OT victory Saturday night at the ATT Center. After allowing a goal in the opening two minutes and eventually falling behind 3-1, the silver and black mounted a furious comeback to score three unanswered goals for the 4-3 OT victory.
The Rampage got a goal from Jordan Schmaltz in the first after a mad scramble in the crease and, as a result, hundreds of teddy bears rained down on the ATT Center ice. After a lengthy delay, the visiting Wild jumped ahead by two goals in the next eight and a half minutes before the home team started their comeback.
J.C. Beaudin started it off, scoring his first AHL goal on a rebound of a Brendan Ranford shot from the point, which was deflected by Klim Kostin on the way to Iowa netminder Steve Michalek. Later, in the third, Julien Nantel tied the game with an NHL caliber individual effort capped off with a snipe, beating Michalek low, stick side.
Rampage head coach Eric Veilleux pointed to a Rampage penalty kill in the third period as the turning point of the game.
“I thought that penalty kill on Mironov’s penalty was a big boost for our hockey club. I thought that’s when the bench really got fired up”, Veilleux said after the game.
After a Joel Eriksson Ek hooking penalty set up an OT power play for the Rampage, Rocco Grimaldi capped off a lengthy period of offensive zone possession with his fourth goal of the season–and seventh OT winner as a member of the Rampage–banging home a rebound sending 6,360 raucous fans home happy.
Joe Cannata, giving Spencer Martin a much needed night off, stopped 22 of 25 shots faced, earning his first win of the season.
Streamables – (Courtesy of Nathan Rudolph @AvalancheReview)
Rampage 0 – Wild 1
1st period (1:50) – IA Gerald Mayhew (4) ASST: Colton Beck (6), Nick Seeler (5)
Rampage 1 – Wild 1
1st period (8:59) – SA Jordan Schmaltz (4) ASST: Andrew Agozzino (11), Rocco Grimaldi (6)
Rampage 1 – Wild 2
1st period (15:24) – IA Joel Eriksson Ek (3) ASST: None
Rampage 1 – Wild 3
2nd period (4:04) – IA Pat Cannone (9) ASST: Christoph Bertschy (5), Brennan Menell (8)
Rampage 2 – Wild 3
2nd period (16:49) – SA J.C. Beaudin (1) ASST: Klim Kostin (8), Brendan Ranford (6)
Rampage 3 – Wild 3
3rd period (11:20) – SA Julien Nantel (5) ASST: None
Rampage 4 – Wild 3
OT (2:21) – SA Rocco Grimaldi (4) ASST: Jordan Schmaltz (13), J.C. Beaudin (2) PP
The Good
- After some really poor efforts over the last two week, the PK was a perfect 6 for 6 on the evening.
- The combo of JC Beaudin and Julien Nantel combined for six shots and three points, including the tying goal from Nantel.
- Rocco Grimaldi looked more like Rocco Grimaldi for the first time in weeks.
The Bad
- The Rampage continue to take too many penalties. The AHL Western Conference leaders took another six minor penalties, many of which in the offensive zone or far away from the play.
- I tweeted it Friday night and I will continue the narrative here. The attendance, specifically the lack thereof, is an issue. 12,000 over two games isn’t terrible, but compared to recent seasons, that is a major dropoff for weekend games in San Antonio.
The Ugly
- Both sides’ trainers were busy tonight, dealing with multiple injuries. Brendan Ranford, who returned, and Andrew Agozzino, who did not, each left the ice after taking a puck to the face.
Lines (12/2):
What’s Next:
Tue, Dec 5th (7:00pm) – vs. Bakersfield
Sat, Dec 9th (7:00pm) – vs. Bakersfield
Sun, Dec 10th (3:00pm) – vs. Ontario
All times local.
All games can be heard on Ticket760 or streamed on AHL Live.