Game Recap: Abbotsford (3) at Tucson (6)
Game #42: Abbotsford Canucks (3) at Tucson Roadrunners (6)
SOG: ABB (33) – TUC (33)
PP: ABB (0/3) – TUC (2/2)
ABBOTSFORD SCORING: Linus Karlsson (14), Tristen Nielsen (7), Vasily Podkolzin (7)
TUCSON SCORING: J.S. Dea (16 PP, 17, 18 PP), Mike Carcone (22), Adam Cracknell (15), Cam Hebig (5)
ROADRUNNERS OPEN WEEKEND SERIES WITH 6-3 WIN OVER ABBOTSFORD CANUCKS
Tucson, Arizona – The Tucson Roadrunners defeated the Abbotsford Canucks 6-3 to open the weekend series at the Tucson Arena Saturday night. A crowd of 5,717 fans were on hand as the Roadrunners celebrated the fan-favorite Star Wars Night. Fans were treated to a three-goal first period by Tucson, as well as a hat trick by Roadrunners forward J.S. Dea. Goaltender Tyler Parks earned his third-straight start since joining Tucson earlier this month with a 30-save effort. The Roadrunners will wrap up their current six-game home stand on Sunday with the series finale against the Canucks.
YA GOTTA SEE IT
Roadrunners forward J.S. Dea notched his second hat trick of the season on Saturday against the Abbotsford Canucks. Dea opened the scoring with 7:13 gone by in the opening frame on Tucson’s first power-play of the night, before completing the hat trick with consecutive goals in the third period. With the performance, the 28-year-old is second on the team in total goals with 18, trailing only forward Mike Carcone.
DON’T OVERLOOK IT
THE FOUR-CE IS WITH MIKE – Roadrunners forward Mike Carcone recorded his 17th multiple-point performance and third four-point outing of the season with a goal and assist in Saturday’s 6-3 win over the Abbotsford Canucks. Carcone extended his franchise record scoring streak to 13 total games, which began on December 17 with another four-point performance. The 26-year-old also grew his league lead in total scoring to 58 points (22g 36a) in 35 appearances with the Roadrunners.
PHOTO OF THE GAME
Saturday’s series opener with the Abbotsford Canucks was Star Wars Night at the Tucson Arena. 5,717 fans were in attendance to witness the Roadrunners earn a 6-3 victory over the visiting Abbotsford Canucks, which represented the largest crowd at a Tucson home game since November 9, 2019. With Saturday’s win, the Roadrunners have won three-straight Star Wars Night contests dating back to the 2019-2020 campaign. The game presentation was largely inspired by the beloved franchise, while many loyal fans came to the game dressed in costume.
THEY SAID IT
“I thought it was a great start for us. It was one of those games where we came out and were effective with our game plan. We penetrated their defense with our forecheck and we had some good quality shifts all around.”
Roadrunners Head Coach Steve Potvin on Tucson’s 6-3 win over the Abbotsford Canucks. The Roadrunners opened the game by jumping out to a 3-0 lead with their third three-goal period over their previous five games.
THE RUNDOWN
The Roadrunners took early command of Saturday’s contest with a pair of goals just over two minutes apart in the first period. J.S. Dea cashed in on Tucson’s first power-play of the night with 7:13 gone by in the opening frame, before Mike Carcone netted his team-leading 22nd goal of the season 2:03 later for an early 2-0 lead. With an assist on Dea’s goal, Carcone notched his 17th multi-point performance on the year with 35 total outings. Roadrunners Captain Adam Cracknell added to the first-period advantage with 7:43 still to play in the frame, as he lit the lamp for the 15th time this season. Carcone once again tallied an assist on the goal by his linemate for a three-point showing through the first 12:17 of the contest. Tucson’s multi-goal lead was cut down to one before the end of the first period, as Abbotsford tallied back-to-back goals 18 seconds apart to make it a 3-2 game with 4:45 remaining in the frame. After a combined five goals in the first 15:15 of the opening frame, Saturday’s second period of play was without a goal. Tucson and Abbotsford skated five-on-five for the entire period with the only penalties of the frame resulting from a fight between Roadrunners Captain Adam Cracknell and Abbotsford’s Phil Di Giuseppe. The bout came with 5:04 remaining in the middle period and marked Cracknell’s first time dropping the gloves as a member of the Roadrunners. Tucson ended the combined scoring drought at 26:23, as J.S. Dea opened the third-period scoring with his second goal of the night with 1:38 gone by in the frame. The score was Dea’s 17th time lighting the lamp this year and gave the Roadrunners a multi-goal lead at 4-2 for the first time since the final 4:45 of the first period. Dea kept it going in the third on the man-advantage with another goal less than six minutes later for his first professional hat trick and a 5-2 Tucson advantage with 12:24 left to play. The Roadrunners took their largest lead of the night at four goals with 3:50 still on the clock, as forward Cam Hebig found the back of the net for the third time in his last four appearances to make it a 6-2 game in favor of the Roadrunners. At the same time Hebig netted his fifth goal of the season, Tucson forward Milos Kelemen dropped the gloves with Abbotsford’s Wyatt Kalynuk in his first game back from the Arizona Coyotes. The Canucks grabbed the final goal of the game with 2:02 remaining for a final score of 6-3, as the Roadrunners won their third-straight game by multiple goals.
(Photo Credits: Ericka Rios)
