Game #50: Tucson Roadrunners (2) vs Bakersfield Condors (7)
Game #50: Tucson Roadrunners vs Bakersfield Condors
SOG: TUC (41) – BAK (26)
PP: TUC (0/3) – BAK (0/1)
BAKERSFIELD SCORING: Ty Tullio (7), Carl Berglund (1), Raphael Lavoie (18,19,20), Xavier Bourgault (7), Seth Griffith (11)
Bless you!
Actually, bless us with two goals in the contest Aku Raty! Raty scored his tenth and eleventh goals of the season in Wednesday night’s matchup with the Bakersfield Condors. Raty was a fifth round draft pick of the Arizona Coyotes in the 2019 draft and is in his rookie season with the Roadrunners.
DON’T OVERLOOK IT
YEAR OF THE RATY – The people on the street are starting to murmur that 2024 is the Year of the Raty. Aku Raty that is, who scored both of Tucson goals on Wednesday night. Raty is now the second leading scorer on the team behind Forward Josh Doan. Raty has scored 9 of his 11 goals this season on the road. Wednesday night’s two-goal performance from Raty was his second multiple-goal game of the year and he has scored three points in his last two games.
LOOK AT THIS
Tucson Roadrunners Forward Milos Kelemen fights for position in front of the net on Wednesday night from the Mechanics Bank Arena in Bakersfield, CA. Milos Kelemen, a forward from Slovakia, is in his second season with the Roadrunners. In 59 games played last season Kelemen tallied 14 goals and 16 assists totaling 30 points. Through 35 games played this year, Kelemen has 10 goals and 10 assists.
THEY SAID IT
“We had a good start to the game and had a lot of good shots but need to be better on the rebound. We need to show Henderson that we are better than we’re playing.”
Forward Milos Kelemen after Wednesday night’s 7-2 loss in Bakersfield
THE RUNDOWN
Let’s start with the positives of the night for the Roadrunners: Aku Raty scored twice for the good guys, once in the first and once in the third. It was the 10th and 11th goals of the year for the forward from Finland. Jan Jenik and Vlad Kolyachonok picked up assists on the first Raty goal of the evening.
Tucson outshot the Condors 41-26 on the night and by at least three shots in each period. The Roadrunners held the Condors to just six shots in the first and gave up no more than 10 on the night.
Power-play chances and special teams favored the Roadrunners on Wednesday night. Tucson drew three penalties: one in the first and two in the second. The Roadrunners only took one penalty, a hooking minor in the third, which was successfully killed off by the penalty kill unit. Despite not capitalizing on the power-plays, the Roadrunners can build on staying out of the box and off the kill.
Now, to the not so positive stuff from the Wednesday night battle in Bakersfield. To begin the night, Bakersfield scored on a deflected puck that tipped right over the outstretched arm of Tucson netminder Dylan Wells. A bad bounce for the good guys in white would start things off on the wrong foot. Bakersfield would add another goal before Aku Raty scored to bring the game to 2-1 at the end of the first. The Condors would come out in the second an lengthen the amount Tucson would need; to take the lead by two. Both Bakersfield goals in the second were even strength goals.
A quick two goals in period three would give Bakersfield a 6-1 lead. 11 minutes later in the period they would add their seventh and final goal of the evening. Aku Raty would score for the Roadrunners at the 15:30 mark of period three but Bakersfield would hold on to the 7-2 lead.
