Game #2: Tucson Roadrunners (4) @ Colorado Eagles (2)
Game #2: Tucson Roadrunners (4) at Colorado Eagles (2)
SOG: TUC (24) – COL (34)
PP: TUC (3/5) – COL (1/7)
COLORADO SCORING: Jason Polin (1), Jacob MacDonald (2)
TUCSON SCORING: Ben McCartney (1), Aku Räty (2), Andrew Agozzino (1)
ROADRUNNERS DEFEAT COLORADO 4-2 TO CLAIM FIRST WIN OF THE SEASON
Loveland, Colorado – After dropping its season opener, the Tucson Roadrunners bounced back to notch its first win of the season against the Colorado Eagles on Saturday at Blue FCU Arena. Tucson (1-1-0-0) scored one goal in the first two periods and two in the third to pull away from Colorado (1-1-0-0).
Forwards Ben McCartney and Andrew Agozzino scored their first goals of the season, and forward Aku Räty found the back of the net twice. Rookie Julian Lutz tallied two assists and the first two points of his AHL career. Forward Milos Kelemen also had two assists on the night. Goalie Jaxson Stauber made his Roadrunners debut and collected his first win with Tucson after making 32 saves.
YA GOTTA SEE IT
Rookie defenseman Artem Duda set up Räty’s third-period goal to give the Roadrunners a 4-2 lead with 10:50 remaining. The highlight-worthy goal also extended Duda’s point streak. The 20-year-old Russian had an assist in both games this weekend, his first two professional games in North America. If anyone deserves a strong start to the season, it’s Duda. The former 2022 second-round draft pick was not allowed to play college hockey at the University of Maine last year because he had played a handful of games for CSKA Moscow of the KHL. He lost most of the 2023-24 season after waiting months for the NCAA to decide on his appeal, which it denied. Duda managed to play 12 games for Toronto Metropolitan University in Canada’s U Sports system. So far, the ordeal does not seem to have hampered his development.
DON’T OVERLOOK IT
After a slow start in Friday’s game, coach Steve Potvin said he wanted improvement from his power-play unit and to see his team put more pressure on Colorado in game two. The Roadrunners responded by scoring in the first three minutes of all three periods. The first two were on the man advantage after the first line put the Eagles on its heels in the opening shift of the first and second frame. Colorado drew two penalties to start both periods, and McCartney and Räty scored to put the Roadrunners ahead 1-0 and 2-1. After going 1-for-7 on the man advantage in game one, Tucson went 3 for 5 on Saturday. The penalty kill continued to do its part, stopping six of Colorado’s seven power plays for the second straight game.
THEY SAID IT
“They (Colorado) had a lot of pressure there at the end, but I think the guys did a great job of blocking shots, and keeping things to the outside to let me see puck. It was a big team win.”
Tucson goalie Jaxson Stauber on getting the first win of the season and his first as a Roadrunner
THE RUNDOWN
Roadrunners forward Ryan McGregor drew an Eagles penalty on the opening shift. On the ensuing power play, McCartney scored 2:30 into the game to give Tucson a 1-0 lead. The 20-year-old Lutz worked the puck off the boards from the right circle and dished a pass to McCartney in front of the net, who buried his shot through Eagles goalie Kevin Mandolese’s legs. Lutz and defenseman Robbie Russo both had an assist on the play. Tucson’s momentum didn’t last long. A minute after the goal, the Roadrunners took an interference penalty to give Colorado its first power play of the night. Halfway through its man advantage, Eagles forward Jason Polin ripped a one-timer from below the right circle to tie the game 1-1. After going a combined 2 for 14 on the man advantage in game one, both teams scored a power-play goal in the opening five minutes. Colorado controlled most of the action after tying the game. The Roadrunners had no shots in the final 11:40 of the period and were outshot by the Eagles 6-4 in the opening 20 minutes. Tucson also played strong defensively, holding the Eagles to just one shot in the final 5:45 and killed Colorado’s second power play.
Tucson scored a quick power-play goal for the second straight period to take a 2-1 lead. The Roadrunners went on the man advantage after Räty was tripped 37 seconds into the middle frame. Räty stayed on the ice and scored 40 seconds later on a wrist shot near the slot after receiving Kelemen’s pass from behind the net. The Roadrunners continued to put on the pressure, nearly scoring again on the next shift when center Cameron Hebig’s shot rang off the crossbar. Under a minute later, McGregor broke through the Colorado defense on a breakaway but was denied. Tucson had six shots in the opening three minutes, two more than it had in the entire first period. Midway through the period, Tucson had it’s second powerplay of the middle frame. McCartney almost scored his second goal of the game on the man advantage after receiving another sharp pass from Lutz near the net. The Roadrunners special teams units continued to shine, killing two Colorado power plays in the second half of the period and preserving its 2-1 lead. Tucson was 3 for 3 on the penalty kill in the middle frame and outshot the Eagles 9-8.
The tension of playing the same team on back-to-back nights boiled over at the start of the third period. Roadrunners forward Travis Barron and Eagles defenseman Jack Ahcan got into an altercation in the first 15 second, and both players went to the box for roughing. The first fight of the season ensued two minutes later between Tucson defenseman Montana Onyebuchi and Colorado defenseman Keaton Middleton. Onyebuchi won the exchange over the 6-foot-6 Eagles assistant captain. That didn’t stop Middleton from raising both arms in the air on his way to the penalty box, to energize the Colorado faithful. Tucson received the biggest boost from the scrap, scoring eight seconds later to take a 3-1 lead. Lutz picked up a loose puck behind the Eagles net and found Agozzino wide open above the crease. The assistant captain’s quick shot found the back of the net to give Agozzino his first goal as a Roadrunner and Lutz his second assist of the night. Colorado climbed back into the game after defenseman Jacob MacDonald scored his second goal of the series to cut the deficit to 3-2 five minutes into the period. A few minutes later, Colorado put Tucson’s scorching hot power-play unit back onto the ice, and Räty scored his second power-play goal of the game at 9:10 to extend the Roadrunners’ lead back to two. It was Tucson’s third goal with a man advantage of the night and the prettiest scoring play of the two-game series. Räty’s hard shot beat Mandolese’s glove top-shelf after a series of passes from Duda and Kelemen. Both had assists on the play, which gave Kelemen his second point of the game. Down by two goals, Colorado played with desperation and fired 14 shots on goal over the final 11 minutes of the game. The Eagles outshot the Roadrunners 20-11 in the third period, but Stauber made 19 saves in the final frame to seal the victory.
The Roadrunners will return home for a four-game homestand at Tucson Arena, starting with the team’s home opener against the Texas Stars on Saturday, Oct. 19. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. MST. Tickets can be purchased using the link here.
