Game #62 – Ontario Reign at Tucson Roadrunners

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6:30 p.m. MST, Tucson Arena, Tucson, Arizona

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Referees: Robert Hennessey (87) Jordan Watt (83)

Linespersons: Justin Johnson (57) Jake Herzog (48)

The Tucson Roadrunners meet with the Ontario Reign Wednesday night to wrap up a four-game home stand at Tucson Arena, as well as the eight-game season series with the AHL affiliate of the Los Angeles Kings. The Roadrunners have earned a standings point in five of the seven previous meetings against the Reign this season, including all three from Southern Arizona. Tucson will look for their third-straight victory on home ice since a 3-2 shootout win on Saturday, while Ontario seeks to snap a ten-game winless streak dating back to an overtime loss against San Diego on February 26. Wednesday’s series finale also marks the final Roadrunners home game in the month of March, with all kids 12 and under admitted for free at the Tucson Arena Box Office with a paying adult as part of Kids Free Wednesday.

Three Things
1) The Roadrunners took the series opener against Ontario Tuesday night by a final score of 4-1, backed by a three-goal second period. The scoring began with the first professional goal by forward Josh Doan 3:57 into the period to give Tucson a 1-0 lead, before forward Mike Carcone and defenseman Ronald Knot combined for a pair of goals 1:24 apart late in the frame to send the Roadrunners to the third with a 3-1 advantage. Carcone was one of three Roadrunners to record multiple points in the win with a goal and an assist, along with forwards Colin Theisen (2a) and J.S. Dea (1g 1a). On the other end, goaltender Tyler Parks stopped 27 of 28 shots faced and kept Ontario out of the back of the net for the final 29:52 of the contest, improving to 5-1 on home ice this season with Tucson. The Roadrunners also improved to 9-2-2 in their last 13 games at the Tucson Arena, while their 7-1-2-0 record in their last ten home outings remains atop the American Hockey League.

2) Tucson’s special-teams played a key role in their series-opening win over the Reign on Tuesday, as the Roadrunners lit the lamp while on the power-play and the penalty-kill held Ontario scoreless in two opportunities on the man-advantage. Forward Mike Carcone was the one to light the lamp while on the man-advantage for Tucson for his 14th power-play goal of the season, which is tied for the AHL league lead and surpasses forward Brayden Burke’s 13 power-play goals in 2019-2020 as the most in a single season in Roadrunners team history. Tuesday’s matchup saw a total of eight penalty minutes and four trips to the power-play, the fewest in a contest between Tucson and Ontario since a meeting on April 7, 2019 that also featured a combined eight penalty minutes.

3) The Roadrunners enter Wednesday’s matchup against Ontario five points behind the Reign in the AHL Pacific Division Standings, as well as three points ahead of the San Jose Barracuda for the seventh and final spot in the Calder Cup Playoffs. Following the series finale against the Reign, Tucson will head on the road for a six-game road trip that includes a pair of games against the team just two points ahead of them in the Pacific Division Playoff race: the Bakersfield Condors. After their longest road trip of the year, the Roadrunners will return to Tucson for a four-game home stand to close out the regular season that will feature a pair of games against the San Jose Barracuda with potential playoff implications.

What’s The Word?

“Those two are up there in the league, and they’re pretty electric and fun to watch from a fan’s perspective. It’s nice to see them go head-to-head, and we appreciate the level that Carcone brings us.”

Roadrunners Head Coach Steve Potvin on the top-two scorers in the AHL facing off Wednesday night in Tucson forward Mike Carcone and Ontario Reign forward T.J. Tynan. Carcone tallied a goal and an assist on Tuesday to reach 70 points on the season with 27 goals and 43 assists, while Tynan recorded an assist on Ontario’s only goal in the series opener to maintain a one-point lead over Carcone.

Number to Know
20 – Roadrunners forward J.S. Dea cashed in on the empty net late in Tucson’s 4-1 win Tuesday night to reach 20 goals in a season for the third time in his American Hockey League Career, becoming the eighth player in Roadrunners team history to record a 20-goal season. Dea trails only forward Mike Carcone for the team lead in goals and total points, who is also the only player to have multiple 20-goal campaigns with Tucson. The pair of forwards have given the Roadrunners their second ever season with multiple 20-goal scorers on the roster, after the 2017-2018 Pacific Division Champion club had three players reach the mark.

We’re Doing It Live
Tonight’s game will be broadcast live on AHLtv, as well as on the radio on FOX Sports 1450AM and the iHeartRadio app. Coverage begins at 6:15 with Roadrunners Warm-Up hosted by Jimmy Peebles, before “Voice of the Roadrunners” Adrian Denny has all the action from the Tucson Arena.