Tucson Roadrunners Road Ahead: California Knows How To Party

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Upcoming Games (All Times MST)

Wednesday, March 5 @ Ontario Reign at 8:00 p.m.

Friday, March 7 @ Bakersfield Condors at 8:00 p.m.

Saturday, March 8 @ Bakersfield Condors at 8:00 p.m.

Roadrunners Record Through 52 Games: 25-22-3-2 (55 points), Seventh Place In The Pacific Division

Pacific Playoff Watch This Week (Top Seven Seeds Make The Calder Cup Playoffs)

Colorado Eagles: 30-14-5-2 (67 points), First Place

  • Wednesday, March 5 @ Bakersfield Condors at 7:00 p.m. PST
  • Saturday, March 8 @ Henderson Silver Knights at 1:00 p.m. PST
  • Sunday, March 9 @ Henderson Silver Knights at 1:00 p.m. PST

Calgary Wranglers: 30-18-4-2, (66 points), Second Place

  • Tuesday March 4 vs. Coachella Valley Firebirds at 7:00 p.m. PST
  • Wednesday, March 5 vs. Coachella Valley Firebirds at 7:00 p.m. PST
  • Saturday, March 8 @ Manitoba Moose at 2:00 p.m. CST
  • Sunday, March 8 @ Manitoba Moose at 2:00 p.m. CST

Ontario Reign: 31-17-2-1, (65 points), Fourth Place

  • Wednesday, March 5 vs. Tucson Roadrunners at 7:00 p.m. PST
  • Friday, March 7 vs. San Diego Gulls at 7:00 p.m. PST
  • Saturday, March 8 @ San Diego Gulls at 7:00 p.m. PST

San Jose Barracuda: 28-20-2-3, (61 points), Fifth Place

  • Wednesday, March 5 vs. San Diego Gulls at 7:00 p.m. PST
  • Friday, March 7 @ Abbotsford Canucks at 7:00 p.m. PST
  • Saturday, March 8 @ Abbotsford Canucks at 7:00 p.m. PST

Abbotsford Canucks: 28-22-2-1, (59 points), Sixth Place

  • Friday, March 7 vs. San Jose Barracuda at 7:00 p.m. PST
  • Saturday, March 8 vs. San Jose Barracuda at 7:00 p.m. PST

Tucson Roadrunners: 25-22-3-2, (55 points), Seventh Place

  • Wednesday, March 5 @ Ontario Reign at 7:00 p.m. PST
  • Friday, March 7 @ Bakersfield Condors at 7:00 p.m. PST
  • Saturday, March 8 @ Bakersfield Condors at 7:00 p.m. PST

Bakersfield Condors 22-19-6-3, (53 Points), Eighth Place

  • Wednesday, March 5 vs. Colorado Eagles at 6:30 p.m. PST
  • Friday, March 7 vs. Tucson Roadrunners at 7:00 p.m. PST
  • Saturday, March 8 vs. Tucson Roadrunners 7:00 p.m. PST

Check Out The Entire AHL Playoff Primer HERE

Egor Making Things Exciting:

Roadrunners Forward Egor Sokolov has daggered his way back to the consistent scoring the team saw at the first half of Tucson’s season. In the recent two-game series versus the Rockford IceHogs, Sokolov finished with three goals and one assist for four points; including a three-point night (2 goals, 1 assist) on Friday, February 28. It marked the second three-point effort of the season third two-game series with four-points or better. Sokolov had a four-point series back on October 25 and 26 in a series versus the Bakersfield Condors (4 goals) and a five-point series versus the San Diego Gulls (2 goals, 3 assist). His 20 goals overall on the season are tied with fellow forward Cameron Hebig and is just one away from his career-season high that was hit for two seasons in a row with his former team, the Belleville Senators, at 21. In his last 13 games overall, Sokolov has seven goals and four assists for 11 points.

Look-Good Feel-Good Play-Good:

Roadrunners netminders Matthew Villalta and Jaxson Stauber have established themselves as the one-two punch for Tucson since the All-Star Break. With the team gaining a record of 6-3-1-1 coming out of the break, Villalta has a 3-3-0-0 record with a 2.99 goals against average and .911 save percentage; while Stauber has compiled a 3-0-1-1 record with a 2.93 goals against average and .899 save percentage. However, Tucson’s recent 3-0-1-0 homestand relied heavily on the goaltending duo; with the two combining for a 2.22 goals against average and .926 save percentage: including stopping 68 of 73 shots for a .931 save percentage against the Abbotsford Canucks on February 22 and February 23 as part of a two-game series sweep. In the homestand, Villalta went 2-0-0-0 in with a 1.50 goals against and .949 save percentage while Stauber had a 2.92 goals against average and .906 save percentage in the homestand. This season overall, Villalta and Stauber have combined for a 2.99 goals against average and .904 save percentage with a 22-22-3-2 record. In addition, since returning to the saguaro padding, Villalta is undefeated at 2-0-0-0.

Feeling The Prescence:

Since Assistant Captain Andrew Agozzino’s return to the lineup from injury, the Roadrunners are unbeaten at 3-0-1-0 in four games: with all coming in the recent four-game homestand. Agozzino scored two crucial goals: including an overtime winner on February 23 versus the Abbotsford Canucks and another goal to cut the deficit to 2-1 on March 1 as part of a multiple goal comeback for Tucson against the Rockford IceHogs. When the 14-year vet is in the lineup, Tucson is 21-13-1-1, when not, the team is 4-9-2-1. In addition, when Agozzino scores a goal for Tucson the Roadrunners are 9-2-1-0. Overall, Agozzino this season has 12 goals and 15 assists for 27 points in 35 games played.

Sharing The Love:

The Roadrunners have had consistent scoring all season long but now from more of a depth standpoint compared to last season. Kailer Yamamoto leads the Roadrunners in points (44), assists (29) and points-per-game (1.03) in 43 games played. His 1.03 points-per-game ranks 9th best in the AHL amongst forwards who have played 40 games or more. Overall, Tucson has five different players with a points-per-game average that is better than .75: including Kailer Yamamoto (1.03), Josh Doan (.93), Cameron Hebig (.79), Andrew Agozzino (.77) and Egor Sokolov (.75). Last season, Tucson had just two players with a point-per-game average of .75 or better: including Dylan Guenther (.97) and Aku Raty (.80). The last time Tucson had five players with a points-per-game average of .75 or better was the 2022-23 season. The list included Michael Carcone (1.31), Laurent Dauphin (.85), Adam Cracknell (.83), Jan Jenik (.77) and Jean Sebastian Dea (.75).

Feeling Blue:

The Roadrunners blue line has continued to be a source of power in the teams’ recent stretch of success, combining for 28 points (5 goals, 23 assists) in 11 games since the All-Star break. Russo has led the way with three goals and seven assists for 10 points; while Artem Duda has put up five points (1 goal, 4 assists) in the stretch; including four points in his last three games with his second three-point outing (1 goal, 2 assists) of the season on February 28 versus the Rockford IceHogs. His first three-point game came against the Henderson Silver Knights on December 13 with a three assists effort. The Russian rookie defenseman has already solidified himself as one of the better Roadrunner rookie defensemen in team history, his 18 assists already rank him as the eighth-best all time amongst Tucson rookies and fourth within rookie defensemen. Kyle Wood (29 assists, 2016-17), Kyle Capobianco (28 assists, 2017-18) and Maksymilian Szuber (20 assists, 2023-24) are the only three Tucson rookie defensemen above him. Other Tucson defensemen in the scoring mix in the last 11 games include: Maveric Lamoureux (4 assists), Maksymilian Szuber (3 assists), Lleyton Moore (1 goal, 2 assists), Kevin Connauton (2 assists) and Montana Onyebuchi (1 assist).

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, “Voice of the Roadrunners” Jonathon Schaffer and Co-Host Kim Cota-Robles were joined by Roadrunners newest forward Sammy Walker and V.P of Marketing Rob Mattina. Listen live each week HERE and the podcast version after HERE.