Game #61: Ontario Reign (1) at Tucson Roadrunners (4)

SOG: ONT (28) – TUC (34)

PP: ONT (0/2) – TUC (1/2)

ONTARIO SCORING: Tobias Bjornfot (4)

TUCSON SCORING: Josh Doan (1), Ronald Knot (3), Mike Carcone (27 PP), J.S. Dea (20 EN)

ROADRUNNERS TAKE DOWN ONTARIO 4-1 IN SERIES OPENER WITH THREE-GOAL SECOND PERIOD

Tucson, Arizona – The Tucson Roadrunners defeated the Ontario Reign Tuesday night by a final score of 4-1 with a three-goal second period that began with the first professional goal by Roadrunners forward Josh Doan. Defenseman Ronald Knot and forward Mike Carcone gave Tucson 2-1 and 3-1 leads late in the middle frame, while forward J.S. Dea sealed the win with a late empty-net score for his 20th goal of the season. Roadrunners netminder Tyler Parks held the Reign scoreless for the opening 30:08 of the contest and finished the night with 27 saves to improve to 5-1 at home on the year. Tucson and Ontario will meet for the eighth and final time of the season Wednesday night as the Roadrunners will look for their third-straight win on home ice.

YA GOTTA SEE IT

Forward Josh Doan opened the scoring in Tuesday’s 4-1 win over the Ontario Reign with the first goal of his professional career. The score came just ten days after Doan netted the overtime game-winning goal in his last outing for Arizona State University on Saturday, March 11 at Mullett Arena. Doan was assisted on the score by linemate Boko Imama and defenseman Vlad Kolyachonok, as the 21-year-old finished the night as a plus-one and was named the Third Star of the Game.

DON’T OVERLOOK IT

THEISEN TALLIES TWO – The Roadrunners lit the lamp twice in the span of 1:24 late in the second period to take a 3-1 advantage into the third period Tuesday night against Ontario, with forward Colin Theisen assisting on both goals. The pair of assists gave Theisen his second multiple-point performance in his last four appearances with six points (4g 2a) in his last six outings. The 25-year-old was one of three players to put up multiple points in Tucson’s 4-1 win over the Reign, along with Roadrunners forward J.S. Dea, who assisted on the same Mike Carcone goal as Theisen and scored on the empty net late in regulation to secure the victory. Carcone notched the third multi-point performance with a goal and assist on back-to-back scores in the second period.

PHOTO OF THE GAME

Roadrunners forward Mike Carcone extended Tucson’s advantage to 3-1 late in the second period with his team-leading 27th goal of the season, scored just 1:24 after defenseman Ronald Knot regained the lead for the Roadrunners at 2-1. The score came while on the man-advantage to move Carcone into a tie for the American Hockey League lead in power-play goals at 14, which represents a new Tucson franchise record. The 26-year-old recorded his 20th multi-point outing of the year to become the first Roadrunners player to reach 70 points in a single season. Carcone enters Wednesday’s series finale one point behind Ontario forward T.J. Tynan for the AHL scoring lead, with seven less games played than Tynan.

THEY SAID IT

“This is a really big win. You look at the standings, and [Ontario] is another team just ahead of us that we’re looking to catch. Obviously, it’s nice to win back-to-back games and hopefully we can build off of it.”

Roadrunners Forward Josh Doan on Tucson’s 4-1 win over the Ontario Reign on Tuesday. Doan lit the lamp for his first professional goal 3:57 into the second period for the first of three Roadrunners goals in the middle frame of the series opener from Tucson.

THE RUNDOWN

The opening 20 minutes between the Roadrunners and Reign Tuesday night was without a goal, marking the second time in Tucson’s last three contests that they had been knotted at zero with their opponent after the first period of play. The Roadrunners put early pressure on the Reign in the frame, as they recorded six of the first seven shots on goal and drew the first trip to the power-play. Tucson opened the second period with the same pressure on Ontario as the first, breaking the scoreless tie at 1-0 with 3:57 gone by in the frame. Forward Josh Doan buried the puck for his first professional goal in his third game since joining the Roadrunners from Arizona State University, while Boko Imama and Vlad Kolyachonok each recorded assists on Doan’s milestone score. Ontario evened the contest at 1-1 just past the midway point of the period when Tobias Bjornfot lit the lamp for his fourth goal of the season, ending Tucson goaltender Tyler Parks’ streak of 78:15 without an even-strength goal allowed dating back to the third period of Friday’s series opener against Calgary. The Roadrunners answered back in a big way with consecutive goals in the span of 1:24 by defenseman Ronald Knot and Mike Carcone to retake the lead at 3-1 with 4:22 still to play in the period. Carcone’s score created the first multi-goal lead of the night and came while on the power-play, tying him for the AHL league lead in power-play goals with a Roadrunners franchise record 14. Still leading by a pair, the Roadrunners fended off just the second man-advantage of the night for Ontario, while Tyler Parks stopped all 12 shots faced in the third period to keep the Reign from getting back to within a goal of Tucson. A empty-net tally by J.S. Dea for his 20th goal of the season with 47 seconds remaining capped off the Roadrunners 4-1 victory in the series opener from Tucson.

(Photo Credits: Chris Hook)