Darren Abate/AHL
The Rampage are three games into their second eight game homestand of the season before heading off on their annual Rodeo Road Trip next month. After a loss to Milwaukee last Friday, the Rampage have won two in a row to improve to 2-1 on this stand and 22-16-2 on the season.
Despite being outshot by 21, and often looking tired and uninspired, the Rampage got timely goals and outstanding goaltending to defeat the Ontario Reign 3-1 on Wednesday night at the AT&T Center.
Alex Belzile scored a power play goal in the first period, running his career high AHL point streak to six games, and San Antonio got third period goals from Michael Joly, his first in a Rampage uniform, and Klim Kostin to extend their lead to 3-0. St Louis forward prospect Samuel Blais also added a pair of assists.
Ville Husso won his second straight contest, stopping 38 of 39 shots. The lone goal coming on a Jordan Subban shot through traffic in the final minute of the game. Husso improves to 9-6 on the season and has allowed just eight goals in his last six games.
Streamables – (Courtesy of Nathan Rudolph @AvalancheReview)
Rampage 1 – Reign 0
1st period (10:24) – SA Alex Belzile (8) ASST: Chris Butler (13), Samuel Blais (11) PP
Coming Soon
Rampage 2 – Reign 0
3rd period (1:44) – SA Michael Joly (1) ASST: Samuel Blais (12), Andrei Mironov (7)
Coming Soon
Rampage 3 – Reign 0
3rd period (7:39) – SA Klim Kostin (4) ASST: Rocco Grimaldi (10), Nicolas Meloche (4)
Coming Soon
Rampage 3 – Reign 1
3rd period (19:35) – ONT Jordan Subban (3) ASST: Philippe Maillet (4)
Coming Soon
The Good
- Alex Belzile continued his breakout season scoring his 8th goal and 20th point in his 31st game of the season.
- The Rampage special teams stepped up again scoring a power play goal on their lone chance and killing all four penalties against them.
- Ville Husso. ‘Nuff said.
The Bad
- The Rampage failed to register double digits in shots all three periods and were outshot 39-17 for the game, including 18-4 in the third period.
- Granted the weather wasn’t fantastic today, but you’d certainly hope for more than 2,800 to show up to a Wednesday night game. And that number is REALLY generous.
The Ugly
- I have no idea how, when the outside temperature is 36 degrees, and the humidity is relatively low, that a hockey rink’s ice can be that bad. It’s approaching “safety issue” territory and needs to be addressed. If they can have playable ice in Miami or Phoenix, there’s no reason it can’t exist in San Antonio.
Lines 1/17/18:
What’s Next:
Fri, Jan 19th (7:30pm) – vs Tucson
Sat, Jan 20th (7:00pm) – vs Tucson
All times local.
All games can be heard on Ticket760 or streamed on AHL Live.