Game #1: Tucson Roadrunners (1) @ Colorado Eagles (3)
Game #1: Tucson Roadrunners (1) at Colorado Eagles (3)
SOG: TUC (21) – COL (25)
PP: TUC (1/7) – COL (1/7)
COLORADO SCORING: Jacob MacDonald (1), Matthew Stienburg (1), Matthew Phillips (1)
TUCSON SCORING: Egor Sokolov (1)
ROADRUNNERS DROP SEASON OPENER AGAINST COLORADO
Loveland, Colorado – The Tucson Roadrunners fought off a hostile crowd and an early deficit, but its comeback fell short in a 3-1 defeat to the Colorado Eagles on Friday at Blue FCU Arena. The loss ended the Roadrunners’ six-game winning streak in season openers, which dates back to 2018. Tucson trailed 2-0 after two periods, but the Roadrunners climbed back into the game after forward Egor Sokolov scored in the first minute of the third. In net, goaltender Matthew Villalta picked up where he left off last season, stopping 22 of 25 shots. His performance helped Tucson kill six Colorado power plays. Both teams finished 1 for 7 on the man advantage.
YA GOTTA SEE IT
After regrouping at center ice, Sokolov entered the Eagles zone, and dropped the puck back to forward Andrew Agozzino below the blue line. Sokolov found an open lane past the Colorado defenders as he glided toward the slot. Agozzino quickly snapped a pass back to him. With no defenders between him and the goalie, Sokolov dragged the puck on his backhand before firing a shot on his forehand above the glove of Colorado netminder Trent Miner. Agozzino and rookie defenseman Artem Duda were credited with an assist.
DON’T OVERLOOK IT
Three players had a point in their Roadrunners debut on Friday. Duda earned an assist in his first-ever professional game in North America. Agozzino also had an assist on Sokolov’s goal. After joining the Roadrunners this offseason, the latter two veterans are expected to add even more fire power to Tucson’s forward group. Sokolov has scored 19 goals or better in three-straight seasons and is the AHL Affiliate Belleville Senators’ all-time leading scorer in four seasons with 76 goals and 104 assists. Agozzino signed a two-year contract with Tucson after leading San Diego in scoring with 26 goals and 38 assists last season, which ranked seventh in the AHL.
THEY SAID IT
“You can’t beat yourself up over a loss. It’s the first game of the season. We have so many more to go. We have to recover now and quickly move on to the next game. It’s a back-to-back. It’s such a good thing to have back-to-back, because we don’t have much time to think about the last one. We can move on and come in tomorrow with the mindset that we’re going to win, play simple, and play to our identity.”
Roadrunners forward Egor Sokolov on the importance of regrouping for tomorrow’s game.
THE RUNDOWN
The Roadrunners escaped the first period tied 0-0 thanks to Villalta’s strong play. Colorado outshot Tucson 10-4 in the opening frame but Villalta denied every Eagles chance. It took several minutes for the Tucson offense to get going, until Milos Kelemen registered the first Roadrunners shot six-and-a-half minutes into the period. Both teams failed to score on its first power play. Tucson killed its first penalty of the season at 11:11 after Villalta blocked all three shots he faced. The Roadrunners had its first power play shortly after when an Eagles defender interfered with Onyebuchi. The Tucson power-play unit struggled to generate any scoring chances, and Colorado nearly scored twice. The Eagles capitalized on two Tucson turnovers, nearly scoring on an odd-man rush and a breakaway. Villalta made four saves on the Roadrunner’s power play, including a point-blank rebound on a Colorado breakaway.
Two special teams goals from Colorado put the Eagles ahead 2-0 after two periods. Villalta continued to carry Tucson in the early going of the second period and made another jaw-dropping save in the opening minute. Off an odd-man rush, Colorado captain Jayson Megna fired a one-timed shot toward a wide-open net, but Villalta slid across his crease to make a spectacular glove save. Both teams failed to score on the power play in the opening four minutes. Then, the game opened up before the halfway mark when the Roadrunners nearly scored on its first odd-man rush of the game. Defenseman Robbie Russo carried the puck into the zone along the left boards and fired the rubber on goal. Forward Aku Raty crashed the net and nearly buried the loose rebound. Minutes later, the Eagles had a two-man advantage after two Tucson minor penalties. Colorado didn’t score on its 5-on-3 power-play, but defenseman Jacob MacDonald found the back of the net at 12:42 before the second penalty expired. Down 1-0, the Roadrunners had its third power play just under two minutes later, but a turnover led to Matthew Stienburg’s shorthanded goal, putting Colorado ahead 2-0. In the final minutes of the frame, Colorado went on its fifth power play with 1:56 left. On the kill, Tucson forward Ryan McGregor stole the puck to create a partial breakaway for himself. He didn’t score but drew a hooking penalty to make it four-on-four. The Roadrunners outshot Colorado 12-7 in the middle frame but took four penalties compared to the Eagles’ three.
Facing a two-goal deficit, Sokolov scored a power-play goal 41 seconds into the period to cut the Roadrunners’ deficit in half. Entering the Eagles zone, Agozzino made a nifty pass from the blue line to Sokolov in the slot. With no defenders on him, the Russian forward took two strides and rifled a shot past Colorado’s netminder. Agozzino and Duda picked up an assist. Forward Travis Barron nearly tied the game nine minutes into the period. Rookie Noel Nordh fed Barron a quick pass across the slot, but Miner denied Barron’s shot. Tucson had another opportunity to tie the game after Colorado took two penalties in a 1:48 span, but the Roadrunners generated one shot on both power plays. Just 15 seconds after the second penalty expired, Colorado forward Matthew Philips scored to make it 3-1 with four minutes remaining. The Eagles outshot Tucson 7-5 in the period and 25-21 in the game. Game two of the weekend series will be tomorrow at 6:05 p.m. MST and is available to stream on AHLTV on FLO HOCKEY.
