Friday, a Charlotte team fighting for their playoff lives came to town and the Rampage sent them on their way with their tails tucked between their legs after a 5-2 win for the home team. The Rampage would jump out to a 4-0 lead midway though the second period on goals from four different players, including newly signed Tyler Barnes’ first pro goal. Barnes would add his second on a highlight reel goal in the third that I maintain is one of the top five individual effort goals in franchise history.

The Rampage would follow up Friday’s stellar performance with a shutdown defensive effort defeating the Monsters 3-0 on Saturday. Panthers prospect Connor Brickley, playing in just his third pro game, scored his first pro goal, Josh McFadden scored his first AHL goal, and Michael Houser stopped all 26 shots he faced to earn his first shutout at the AHL level.

Rampage fans saw a ton of “firsts” this weekend. While it’s hard to show up to games knowing your team is, for all intents and purposes, done for the season, seeing these firsts can make these end of season games seem much less meaningless.

San Antonio Rampage “Three Stars of the Week” for the week ending April 6th:

1^st Star: Drew Shore (3GP  1G-4A-5pts  6 SOG   +3)

This could very well be Drew’s sendoff to the NHL. Once again, Shore asserted himself as the best player on the ice for the Rampage, playing excellent hockey in all three zones and setting up 4 goals while adding one more for himself.

2^nd Star: Tyler Barnes (2GP  2G-0A-2pts  5 SOG  +1)

The undrafted free agent out of Wisconsin jumped right into the Rampage lineup and made an impact right away. In his first professional game, Barnes scored two goals and has seen time on the penalty kill and power play in his first two games.

3^rd Star: Greg Rallo (2GP  1G-2A-3pts  7 SOG  +3)

It’s good to see the captain on this list again. Rallo scored his first goal in 23 games on Saturday, essentially icing the game, and added two more assists. He’s had a ton of scoring chances but could never seem to capitalize. That goal was vintage Rallo and I hope he gets a few more in the last 5 games.

Honorable Mention: Josh McFadden (3GP 1G-1A-2Pts 3 SOG +3)

McFadden scored his first AHL goal on Saturday, following John McFarland’s rush to the net and depositing the puck into the gaping net. He’s seeing a ton of time on the power play and has been steadily improving defensively. These last couple of weeks could be a huge boost to his confidence for next season.

Three Stars Season Standings
T-1. Bobby Butler – 7
T-1. Vincent Trocheck – 6
T-2. Jacob Markstrom – 5
T-2. Drew Shore -5
T-3. Jed Ortmeyer – 4
T-4. Michael Houser – 3
T-4. Greg Rallo – 3
T-5. Garrett Wilson – 2
T-5. Jared Gomes – 2
T-5. Denny Urban – 2
T-5. Matt Gilroy – 2
T-5. Quinton Howden – 2
T-5. Joey Crabb – 2
T-5. John McFarland – 2
T-6. Steve Pinizzotto – 1
T-6. Dov-Grumet-Morris – 1
T-6. Jon Matsumoto – 1
T-6. Doug Janik – 1
T-6. Colby Robak – 1
T-6. Ryan Martindale – 1
T-6. Scott Clemmensen – 1
T-6. Tyler Barnes – 1

The Rampage split a pair of games against the Charlotte Checkers in Charlotte this past weekend. Friday night, the Rampage stormed back from a 3-0 deficit in the second period to tie the game at 3-3 only to have an ill-timed–and highly questionable–Ryan Whitney crosscheck come back to haunt them late in the 3rd period. The Checkers would capitalize as Chris Terry would beat Michael Houser with just over four minutes remaining. The Rampage were attacking the net in the final minutes, but couldn’t net the equalizer and fell 4-3–their 5th straight defeat.

Sunday, the Rampage–or should I say Bobby Butler–would come back strong and would earn the split. The 4-2 win was just their third road win within the division for the season. Butler would have a hand in all four goals for the Rampage scoring the first two and assisting on the latter two. Scott Clemmensen was also strong, stopping 31 of 33 shots for just his second win in seven tries–and first since the second game of the season–in a Rampage uniform.

San Antonio Rampage “Three Stars of the Week” for the week ending February 23rd:

1st Star: Bobby Butler (1GP 2-2-4  4SOG  +3)
After finding himself sitting and watching, despite being completely healthy, on Friday for the second time in two weeks, Butler earns himself the first star of the week for his four point performance on Sunday. Butler tallied a shorthanded goal, his second of the season, and registered the first four point game of the season for the Rampage.

2nd Star: Jed Ortmeyer (2GP 1-1-2  2SOG  +5)
Ortmeyer, lined up alongside Butler, had a strong weekend registering a multi-point game on Sunday and leading the team with a +5 in just two games. Jed continues his strong play regardless of where he slots into the lineup and his hard work has never tailed off depsite the team’s recent struggles.

3rd Star: Scott Clemmensen (1GP 1-0-0  .939% 2.00)
It’s not a secret that I’m no fan of Clemmensen. That said, he played solid to fantastic over the course of the Rampage win on Sunday, including coming up with a couple HUGE saves when the Rampage were clinging to a one goal lead in the third period.

Honorable Mention: John McFarland (2GP  1-1-2  8SOG  +1)
McFarland continues his strong sophomore campaign with another Pt/game week. His resurgance this season is cause for excitement leading into next season where McFarland could see plenty of top six minutes.

Three Stars Season Standings
T-1. Bobby Butler – 7
T-1. Vincent Trocheck – 6
T-2. Jacob Markstrom – 5
T-3. Drew Shore – 4
T-3. Jed Ortmeyer – 4
T-4. Michael Houser – 3
T-5. Garrett Wilson – 2
T-5. Jared Gomes – 2
T-5. Denny Urban – 2
T-5. Greg Rallo – 2
T-5. Matt Gilroy – 2
T-5. Quinton Howden – 2
T-5. Joey Crabb – 2
T-5. John McFarland – 2
T-6. Steve Pinizzotto – 1
T-6. Dov-Grumet-Morris – 1
T-6. Jon Matsumoto – 1
T-6. Doug Janik – 1
T-6. Colby Robak – 1
T-6. Ryan Martindale – 1
T-6. Scott Clemmensen – 1

News and Notes:
– Garrett Wilson has been re-assigned to the Rampage from Florida. Wilson played 3 games for the Panthers and was held without a point.
– The NCAA Hockey Tournament begins this weekend and there is no shortage of potential future Rampage players taking part. Eight in all, including Kyle Rau (Minn), Rocco Grimaldi (UND) and Sam Brittain (Denver).
– Podcast will likely make its return Thursday so keep your eyes and ears peeled.

Friday night, the Checkers would pull out a shootout victory after a fast paced, back and forth affair. Bobby Butler scored twice and came within a post of netting the second hat trick in three weeks for the home team and Drew Shore added two more assists. It wasn’t enough, though, as Aaron Palushaj and Brody Sutter beat Michael Houser in the shootout for the 5-4 win.

On Sunday, in front of 6,000+ fans and another 3-400 dogs, the Rampage fell behind early and couldn’t manage to pull out the win despite coming back from a 2-0 deficit in the first and a 3-2 deficit in the third period. Wade Megan had a goal and an assist and Scott Clemmensen stopped 23 of 27 shots in his first game in San Antonio since October. Charlotte got the game winner, though, from Aaron Palushaj–there’s that name again–midway through the third period and held on for a 4-3 win.

The Rampage now sit nine points out of the 8th spot in the west, with three teams between them and Milwaukee, with just 18 games to go in the regular season. It’s fitting that the game the Rampage season likely went “to the dogs” was the game with hundreds of dogs in attendance.

You can boo now…

San Antonio Rampage “Three Stars of the Week” for the week ending February 23rd:

1st Star: Wade Megan (2GP 2-1-3  6SOG  +1)
Megan had a solid week scoring a single goal in each contest and adding an assist in Sunday’s loss. Megan started the season playing very well, then trailed off a bit, but has been good in the last couple of weeks.

2nd Star: Bobby Butler (2GP 2-1-3  6SOG  -2)
As mentioned above, Butler came within half an inch of scoring a hat trick in Friday night’s game. He also added a secondary assist on the first Rampage goal and had several other chances in both games to add to his totals. With Trocheck in the NHL, Butler is option #1 on offense.

3rd Star: John McFarland (2GP 0G-2A-2pts  4SOG  +2)
McFarland continued his solid play chipping in an assist in each game and being one of the few players on the team to register a plus number for the weekend. His speed set up the Ortmeyer goal on Sunday and Megan’s tip goal on Friday came off of his shot from the point.

Honorable Mention: Drew Shore(2GP  0G-2A-2Pt  6SOG  -2)
Shore continues to be the best player on the team most nights. Shore assisted on two goals Friday night. He also had several chances on Sunday but just couldn’t capitalize.

*My apologies for the lack of Three Stars goodness last week. The Trade Deadline and corresponding two podcasts, plus the 3rd quarter grades threw me way off. As heard on the podcast, they were Crabb, Trocheck, and Markstrom and the standings below reflect that.

Three Stars Season Standings
T-1. Bobby Butler – 6
T-1. Vincent Trocheck – 6
T-2. Jacob Markstrom – 5
T-3. Drew Shore – 4
T-4. Jed Ortmeyer – 3
T-4. Michael Houser – 3
T-5. Garrett Wilson – 2
T-5. Jared Gomes – 2
T-5. Denny Urban – 2
T-5. Greg Rallo – 2
T-5. Matt Gilroy – 2
T-5. Quinton Howden – 2
T-5. Joey Crabb – 2
T-5. John McFarland – 2
T-6. Steve Pinizzotto – 1
T-6. Dov-Grumet-Morris – 1
T-6. Jon Matsumoto – 1
T-6. Doug Janik – 1
T-6. Colby Robak – 1
T-6. Ryan Martindale – 1

News and Notes:
– There have been a bevy of moves in the last week. Vincent Trocheck, Joey Crabb, and Mike Mottau are off to Florida and Tim Miller has been traded to Abbotsford for Future Considerations.
– John Lee is 100% and will be in the lineup tonight in OKC.

After going into Rochester, in the biggest game of the season, and stealing a shootout victory on the shoulders of Michael Houser, the Rampage faltered on Saturday and Sunday. The losses to Toronto and Hamilton were the first consecutive losses for the Rampage since January 3rd and 4th vs OKC.

The Toronto game saw the Marlies score just ten seconds into the game when Houser failed to cover the puck. Toronto would add another in the first and it would be too much to overcome as the Rampage fell 2-1. The lone Rampage goal coming from Bobby Butler from, who else, Drew Shore. The lone bright spot for the Rampage was the play of Jacob Markstrom who came in relief just 10 minutes into the game and shut down the dangerous Toronto offense stopping all 23 shots he faced.

On Sunday, the Rampage were never able to mount any kind of sustained pressure on the Bulldogs and after falling behind early yet again, they fell to Hamilton 3-1. Quinton Howden would score the only goal of the game for the Rampage on the power play, his first PP goal of the season.

The Rampage can come home with the best record in the history of the Rodeo Road Trip with a win over Utica on Wednesday. The Comets had won four in a row before losing to Albany on Sunday and are no longer considered an easy win.

San Antonio Rampage “Three Stars of the Week” for the week ending February 23rd:

1st Star: Quinton Howden (3GP 2-0-2  3 SOG  +1)
Howden scored twice this weekend, once shorthanded–his team leading third–and once on the power play, his first. He’s really upped his level of play since the arrival of Ryan Martindale and the two have developed some good chemistry together.

2nd Star: Jacob Markstrom (2GP 0-1-0-0  1.68GAA  .944)
Jacob stepped in on Saturday after Houser struggled and play very well against the Marlies. Despite taking the loss on Sunday, Markstrom looked good and made three or four tremendous saves in the 2nd and third period against Hamilton.

3rd Star: Vincent Trocheck (3GP 0G-1A-1pts  8 SOG  -1)
Trocheck registered just a single assist for the weekend, but it was his ability to keep the play alive and find a shooting lane that led to tying goal on a Joey Crabb tip against Rochester. Vincent then added the game winner in the shootout, just his second successful conversion in ten attempts this season.

Honorable Mention: Bobby Butler (3GP  1G-0A-1Pt  9 SOG  -2)
As mentioned above Butler scored the lone Rampage goal on Saturday. He also added yet another goal in the shootout on Friday night. Butler is now an unbelievable 6-9 on shootout attempts this season.

Three Stars Season Standings
T-1. Bobby Butler – 5
T-1. Vincent Trocheck – 5
T-2. Drew Shore – 4
T-2. Jacob Markstrom – 4
T-3. Jed Ortmeyer – 3
T-3. Michael Houser – 3
T-4. Garrett Wilson – 2
T-4. Jared Gomes – 2
T-4. Denny Urban – 2
T-4. Greg Rallo – 2
T-4. Matt Gilroy – 2
T-5. Quinton Howden – 2
T-5. Steve Pinizzotto – 1
T-5. Dov-Grumet-Morris – 1
T-5. Jon Matsumoto – 1
T-5. Doug Janik – 1
T-5. Colby Robak – 1
T-5. Ryan Martindale – 1
T-5. Joey Crabb – 1

News and Notes:
– As expected, Drew Shore has returned to the Panthers. With the injuries to Barkov and Kopecky in the Olympics–both “long term”–we may have seen the last of Shore in a Rampage uniform unless the team can make the playoffs.
– Last week, the Rampage traded Denny Urban for Tim Miller. The Rampage have a glut of defenseman and with the knowledge of the Shore situation, the team dealt from a position of depth to acquire an AHL caliber forward.
– Mike Mottau has cleared waivers and was assigned to the Rampage today. While this is good news, this also brings uncertainty as Mottau is now the 6th veteran on the roster–with two more injured and due back. The team will likely rotate defensemen with Zanon, Whitney, & Mottau getting nights off.