Game #42: Tucson Roadrunners (2) vs San Diego Gulls (1)
Game #42: Tucson Roadrunners vs San Diego Gulla
SOG: TUC (25) – SD (36)
PP: TUC (0/2) – SD (0/3)
SAN DIEGO SCORING: Jaxsen Wiebe (4)
TUCSON SCORING: Austin Poganski (10), Curtis Douglas (2)
Curtis Douglas. Ohhhhhh, Curtis Douglas. The 6′ 9″ forward picked a great time to score his second goal of the year giving Tucson the 2-1 lead against the San Diego Gulls late in the third period of Friday night’s contest. Clutch Gene Curtis has been born as he scores his first game-winning goal of the season and sets up a big matchup against Coachella Valley Saturday night for Tucson’s last game before the all-star break.
DON’T OVERLOOK IT
THE LIGHTS GET BRIGHTER IN COACHELLA VALLEY – Let’s get right to it. Saturday night the Roadrunners take on Coachella Valley for first place bragging rights heading into the all-star break. Currently Coachella Valley has played one more game than the Roadrunners but only leads the division by a point. Last season, which ended in Coachella Valley, the Roadrunners were 2-5-1 against the Firebirds during the regular season. So far in 2023-2024, the Roadrunners are 2-2-0-1 against Coachella Valley. Tucson has the best winning percentage in the Pacific Division and third highest in the AHL. Get your popcorn, folks!
LOOK AT THIS
Tucson Roadrunners forward Curtis Douglas celebrates after his third period game-winning goal against San Diego on Friday night. Douglas has two goals and nine assists for the Roadrunners this season. Douglas was drafted by the Dallas Stars in 2018 and in his fourth pro season. Douglas has 64 career points in the AHL.
THEY SAID IT
“We knew coming into it that they’ve (San Diego) been playing well lately and I’m proud of how we battled and took the two points. We’re taking it one game at a time and every point matters.”
Goalie Dylan Wells after Tucson’s 2-1 win on Friday night.
THE RUNDOWN
An early Tucson tripping minor would put the Roadrunners on a penalty kill just 2:23 into the first period. Austin Poganski would intercept a San Diego pass along the Gulls defensive blue line and beat the netminder giving Tucson a shorthanded goal and an early 1-0 lead in California. This goal was the fifth short-handed goal for Tucson this season. Poganski was unassisted on the play and picked up his 10th goal of the season. Tucson would be outshot 11-6 in the period and 36-25 on the night.
In the second frame, it would be San Diego who would find themselves doing the scoring. A Gulls goal at the 8:25 mark would knot the two teams up 1-1. Tucson would have a power-play opportunity late in the frame, but would come up empty. The story of the second period and the entire night was Tucson goalie Dylan Wells. Wells, who had 14 saves in the second period and ended the night as the First Star of The Game with 35 saves in the contest, all while earning his fourth win of the season.
A third period slashing minor on Tucson would give San Diego a power-play opportunity and early momentum in a 1-1 game. The Tucson penalty-kill unit, who boasts an 82.8% kill percentage, added to that total keeping San Diego away from the back of the net. The two teams would battle it out until the 13:49 mark when Curtis Douglas would find himself in front of the net receiving the rebound off a Cameron Hebig shot and putting it in the back of the net. Douglas was assisted by Hebig and Travis Barron on the play, scoring his second goal of the season and first game-winning goal of the season.
