Game #41: Henderson at Tucson

Regular Season Game #41 –Henderson Silver Knights at Tucson Roadrunners

7:00 p.m. MST, Tucson Arena, Tucson, Arizona

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Referees:  Mike Dietrich (15) Terry Koharski (10)

Linesmen: Kilian McNamara (31) Jake Herzog (48)

The Tucson Roadrunners return home for the first of two weekend series at the Tucson Arena. They’ll kick off the home stand by hosting the Henderson Silver Knights Saturday and Sunday as part of Kids Weekend. The first 1,500 kids 12 and under into the building Saturday night will receive a Kachina Youth jersey courtesy of the DentalPros. The Silver Knights take the trip to Tucson for the second time this season, after rounding out the Roadrunners final home stand of 2021 with a pair of games December 14 and 15.

Three Things
1) The Roadrunners are back in the Old Pueblo after playing 12 of their last 15 contests as the visiting team, including their most recent six-game road trip. Tucson faced the San Diego Gulls, Abbotsford Canucks and Colorado Eagles for two games each from February 4 to February 12. Leading the team in scoring during that stretch was rookie forward Matias Maccelli with a goal and nine assists. Maccelli has been climbing the AHL ranks and currently sits at third in the league for points (48) and assists (37) while leading all rookies in both categories. His linemate Mike Carcone led the Roadrunners in goals on the trip with seven, including his third career AHL hat trick against San Diego on February 5. Cam Dineen tallied the most points for a defenseman across the six-game stretch with a goal and seven assists, highlighted by the first two three-point performances of his AHL career in back-to-back outings.

2) Tucson’s recent top scorers Matias Maccelli, Mike Carcone and Cam Dineen are a part of a Roadrunners power-play attack that scored six goals across their six-game road trip. Their performance propelled Tucson to third in the AHL Pacific Division for power-play goals with 36, while also being tied for the second-most on the road with 17. They’ll look to pick up where they left off back home this weekend after scoring four times while on the man-advantage over their last three-game home stand against the Bakersfield Condors. Leading the Roadrunners in power-play strikes this season is Jan Jenik with seven of his 11 total goals coming on special-teams, closely followed by Mike Carcone (six), Ben McCartney (five) and Matias Maccelli (four).

3) Joining the Roadrunners this week is forward Anthony Rinaldi from the Greenville Swamp Rabbits. The 26-year-old has put up 18 points (6g 12a) in 26 games with Greenville this season, his third year in the ECHL after a four-year career at Union College, the same school attended by Tucson Head Coach Jay Varady. His first appearance with the Roadrunners will mark his AHL debut. Also back in Tucson is goaltender Ivan Prosvetov. The 22-year-old dressed in three games for the Arizona Coyotes from February 8 to February 11, including a 5-2 win against the Seattle Kraken on February 9.

What’s The Word?

“Just keeping on it. I think we’re best when we’re moving our feet on the forecheck and sticking to our strengths. We know what we have to do, we had a good week of practice and we worked on the fundamentals. We’re looking to get back on track here.”

Roadrunners forward Cameron Hebig on the team’s keys to a successful four-game home stand at the Tucson Arena.

Number to Know
5 – The number of games between the Roadrunners and Silver Knights decided by just one goal over the last two seasons. Two of the four matchups between Tucson and Henderson this season have gone to an extra three-on-three period, with three of the ten total meetings being decided by overtime since the Silver Knights joined the AHL Pacific Division last season.

We’re Doing It Live
Today’s game will be broadcast on AHLtv, as well as on the radio on Fox Sports 1450AM, or on the iHeartRadio app. Coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. MST with Roadrunners Warm-Up, as Jimmy Peebles gets you ready for the game before “Voice of the Roadrunners” Adrian Denny has the call at 7:00 p.m. live from the Tucson Arena.