Game #9: Tucson Roadrunners (5) vs San Diego Gulls (2)
Game #9: Tucson Roadrunners (5) vs San Diego Gulls (2)
SOG: TUC (28) – SD (26)
PP: TUC (1/4) – SD (1/4)
SAN DIEGO SCORING: Josh Lopina (1), Jansen Harkins (4)
TUCSON SCORING: Artem Duda (1), Peter DiLiberatore (1), Kailer Yamamoto (1), Maksymillian Szuber (1), Egor Sokolov (7)
ROADRUNNERS SCORE FOUR THIRD-PERIOD GOALS IN 5-2 VICTORY OVER GULLS
Tucson, AZ – The Tucson Roadrunners (5-4-0-0) won for the fourth time in five games and the team is over .500 for the first time this season after defeating the San Diego Gulls (3-8-0-0) by a score of 5-2 on Saturday at Tucson Arena. After trailing the Gulls 2-1 entering the third period, the Roadrunners scored four unanswered goals, including three in a 1:45 span to win by three goals for the second game in a row.
Roadrunners goalie Jaxson Stauber made 26 saves to win his third straight game. He was the first Roadrunners goalie to start in consecutive games this season. It was a night of firsts for several other Roadrunners. Rookie defenseman Artem Duda scored his first career AHL goal in the first period. Defenseman Peter Diliberatore suited up for his first game of the season and found the back of the net for his first goal. His partner on the backend, Makysymillian Szuber, also tallied his first goal of the season. Forward Kailer Yamamoto registered his first goal as a Roadrunner and forward Egor Sokolov had one goal and two assists for a season-high three-point night.
YA GOTTA SEE IT
Duda scored with five seconds remaining in Tucson’s power play to give the Roadrunners an early 1-0 lead in the first period. The 20-year-old left-shot defenseman became the third Roadrunner rookie to score their first career AHL goal this season, joining forward Sam Lipkin and defenseman Maveric Lamoureux. Fellow 20-year-old rookie, forward Julian Lutz, assisted on the goal for his fourth assist of the season.
DON’T OVERLOOK IT
The Roadrunners scored four goals in a period for the second game in a row, which ties the season-high. Tucson put four on the board in the first period against the Abbotsford Canucks in the team’s 5-2 victory on Wednesday, Oct. 30. Diliberatore got it started when he scored the game-tying goal early in the third period. Yamamoto tallied the game-winner with 2:12 left. Szuber scored a tap-in 37 seconds later to extend the Roadrunners lead to two goals. Forward Egor Sokolov added an empty-net goal in the final minute to complete his three-point night and extend his multi-point streak to two games. Friday’s four-goal third period is the most the team has scored in the final frame this season.
THEY SAID IT
“It’s huge. We had a long break. It felt like a summer break for me. So it was huge to come out and get over .500, and now we have to get ready for tomorrow.”
Roadrunners forward Egor Sokolov on earning a victory after the nine-day break.
THE RUNDOWN
The Roadrunners controlled most of play in the first period and Duda’s power-play goal gave Tucson a 1-0 advantage after the opening 20 minutes. The Russian rookie lit the lamp on the Roadrunners’ first power play after San Diego forward Pavol Regenda cross-checking penalty 6:51 into the game. Tucson nearly scored twice at the start of the man advantage when Sokolov cut through both San Diego defenders for a breakaway. Clang made the save, but Sokolov secured his own rebound and found Yamamoto in front of the net for a one-timer. In the closing seconds of the power play, Aku Räty dished a pass across the slot to Duda, and the rookie defenseman buried it into the back of the net at 8:46 to put the Roadrunners ahead 1-0. Fellow rookie rookie forward Julian Lutz also had an assist. Three minutes later, Tucson almost extended its lead from a heads-up play from defenseman Maksymillian Szuber. The rookie defenseman delivered a hard check on Gulls forward Josh Lopina below the San Diego blue line, stole the puck and found rookie forward Miko Matikka in front of the net for a one-timer, which Clang saved. The Roadrunners had its second power play at 12:42 after Gulls forward Carson Meyer’s roughing penalty but San Diego’s penalty kill didn’t allow Tucson to register any shots on goal or dangerous scoring chances. Towards the end of the period, Stauber stopped two point-blank shots in quick succession from Gulls defenseman Noah Warren and forward Judd Caulfield with 4:20 remaining to preserve Tucson’s one-goal lead. Stauber had eight saves in the period and the Roadrunners outshot the Gulls 12-8 in the opening frame.
San Diego came out of the gates strong in the second period and scored two goals in less than three minutes to tie the game and take the lead. The Gulls registered the first five shots on goal and earned its first man advantage of the night from defenseman Patrik Koch’s tripping penalty 2:21 into the middle frame. San Diego forward Josh Lopina scored right before time expired on the power play to make it a 1-1 game. The Gulls tallied another goal from its leading scorer Jansen Harkins to pull ahead 2-1 seven minutes into the period. San Diego outshot Tucson 6-2 through the first nine minutes but the Roadrunners shifted the momentum on its third power play of the game. The Roadrunners didn’t find the equalizer but had a couple of quality scoring chances from forward Kailer Yamamoto and Sokolov from his favorite spot around the left faceoff circle. Gulls forward Carson Meyer broke his stick midway through its penalty kill, which gave Tucson close to a two-man advantage. But the Roadrunners couldn’t find the back the net, and neither could San Diego on its second power play midway through the period. With eight seconds remaining, Koch’s interference penalty gave the Gulls its third power play of the game. On the ensuing faceoff, Stauber made a big save on Harkins’ shot in the closing seconds to keep it a one-goal game. San Diego outshot Tucson 12-6 in the period and Roadrunners forward Cameron Hebig’s hooking penalty at the end of the period gave the Gulls a 5-on-3 power play to start the third.
The Roadrunners only conceded one shot on goal during San Diego’s two-man advantage and tilted the ice after killing both penalties. Just over five minutes into the third period, Roadrunners defenseman Peter DiLiberatore scored his first of the year to tie the game 2-2. Sokolov carried the puck into San Diego’s zone, and paused long enough for Diliberatore to join him on the rush. The 6-foot defenseman received Sokolov’s pass and rifled a shot from above the left circle past Clang. Three minutes later, Stauber kept it a tie game when he robbed Meyer’s one-timer from above the crease. With seven minutes remaining in the game, the game intensified when Roadrunners forward Curtis Douglas and Gulls defenseman Noah Warren fought. It was a lengthy scrap and Douglas raised his arms in the air on his way to the penalty box and lifted Tucson Arena to its feet. Both sides played sound defensively for the next several minutes before the Roadrunners exploded with three goals in a 1:45 span to take the lead and put the game on ice. Defenseman Robbie Russo fired a pass from the blue line down low to Sokolov, who snapped it to Yamamoto in the slot for a one-timed goal to give the Roadrunners a 3-2 lead with 2:12 remaining. Szuber tapped in a pass from forward Milos Kelemen 37 seconds later to give Tucson its first two-goal lead and put the game out of reach. Just over a minute later, Sokolov scored an empty netter for his seventh goal of the season and his third point of the night.
The Roadrunners look to complete the sweep against San Diego on Sunday at Tucson Arena. Puck drop is set for 4 p.m. MST. Tickets can be purchased using the link here. The game will be available to stream on AHLTV on FLO HOCKEY.
