Tucson Roadrunners Road Ahead: Bringing Out The Big Guns

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Roadrunners record through Eight games (4-4-0-0), 6th in the Pacific Division

Upcoming Games (All Times MST)

Saturday, November 9, 7:00 p.m. vs. San Diego Gulls (Military Appreciation Night)

Sunday, November 10, 4:00 p.m. vs. San Diego Gulls

Wednesday, November 13, 8:00 p.m. @ Ontario Reign

Military Appreciation Night:

The Tucson Roadrunners will hold its annual Military Appreciation Night on Saturday, November 9 for game one of the two-game weekend slate against I-8 Border Rivals the San Diego Gulls. Last season in 2023-24, the Roadrunners were victorious for Military Appreciation Night in a 5-3 score over the Chicago Wolves. Former second round pick and 2023-24 rookie sensation Josh Doan, who was reassigned to Tucson from the Utah Hockey Club on Monday, October 28, notched two goals in the 5-3 win over Chicago. He is now coming off another two-goal performance he had against the Abbotsford Canucks as part of a 5-2 victory Tucson accomplished on Wednesday, October 30. Fans can acquire a Military T-Shirt giveaway when entering the arena and have the chance to buy signed game-worn Military Appreciation Jerseys at the postgame jersey auction. Tickets for Saturday’s game can be found HERE.

Goalies Standing Tall:

Goalies Matthew Villalta and Jaxson Stauber have split starting roles for every two-game series for Tucson so far this season. Stauber has led the charge out of the two Roadrunner netminders with a 2.49 goals against average, .932 save percentage and 3-1-0-0 record. The first-year Roadrunner goalie has not had the easiest first four games of the year: facing 35 shots or more in three of his four starts. In those three starts of facing 35 shots or more, Stauber has a 2.68 goals against average and .928 save percentage. Stauber has also played in five total periods where he has faced 15 shots or more: stopping 65 out of 86 total shots. Matthew Villalta on the other hand has started 1-3-0-0 with a 3.56 goals against average and .899 save percentage. However, the second year Tucson goalie has a 3.04 goals against average but with a .923 save percentage in his last two starts: stopping 72-of-78 shots. In Villalta’s November of last season he went 6-2-0-1 with a 2.48 goals against average and 926 save percentage.

Dialed In Doan:

Arizona Native Josh Doan returned to the Roadrunners lineup versus the Abbotsford Canucks: where he scored two goals in Tucson’s 5-2 series split victory. Doan, who scored 26 goals last season, is coming off a year in which he made both the All-Star Game and All-Rookie team in his first full professional season in the AHL. In addition to last season, Doan ranked second on the team in multiple point games (9) and was first in multiple goal games (4). With already a multiple goal contest under his belt, Doan is now second on the Team in multiple goal games behind Forward Egor Sokolov who has two already on the season. Doan enters the weekend with 31-career AHL goals: including six total in his last six regular season games.

Sokolov the Psycho:

Fifth-year AHL forward and first-year Tucson Roadrunner Egor Sokolov ended the first month of the season as one of the best early offseason acquisitions in the AHL. In his first eight games of the season, Sokolov leads the Roadrunners in goals (6), power-play goals (3), power-play points and total points (10). The former Belleville Senator won the AHL’s player of the week in week three of the season with four goals over the two-game sweep on the Bakersfield Condors from October 25-October 26: with two of those goals coming in game-winning fashion. This eight-game start has been Sokolov’s best since 2022-23; where he tallied one goal and six assists for seven points in eight games. In that same season, Sokolov ended the year with career highs in goals (21), assists (38) and points (59) in 70 games. Entering the new month of November, Sokolov is tied for fifth in the AHL in points and tied for third in goals and is averaging 1.25 points-per-game: which is tied for fourth in the league.

Lighting The Lamp:

Tucson finished October with 25 goals over eight games: which averaged to a 3.12 goals for per game. The power-play has been the big boost to Tucson’s early season offensive success. The Roadrunners power-play sits at a 7-for-35 line in the first eight games of the season: which is at a 20 percent success rate. That 20 percent currently ranks first in the Pacific Division and third in the entire Western Conference. As previously mentioned, Sokolov leads the team with five power-play points (3 goals, 2 assists): while Forward Andrew Agozzino and Defenseman Robbie Russo are tied for second with three assists each for three points. Tucson’s power-play in the first eight games of last season struggled to get the ball rolling: finishing at 3-for-30 for 10 percent.

We Are Live:
Tucson Roadrunners Happy Hour airs every Tuesday at 5 p.m. on FOX Sports 1450AM and the iHeartRadio app, with a podcast version also available after each episode on the iHeartRadio app and Apple Podcast. This week, the new “Voice of the Roadrunners” Jonathon Schaffer and Co-Host Kim Cota-Robles are joined by Roadrunners Forward Sam Lipkin after scoring his first career goal in the Abbotsford series. Listen to this week’s episode live every Tuesday HERE and the podcast version after HERE.