Game #12: Tucson Roadrunners (2) @ Henderson Silver Knights (6)
Game #12: Tucson Roadrunners (2) at Henderson Silver Knights (6)
SOG: TUC (30) – HSK (31)
PP: TUC (0/1) – HSK (1/3)
HENDERSON SCORING: Grigori Denisenko (2, 3), Mitch McLain (3), Brendan Brisson (1), Jonas Rondbjerg (3), Braden Bowman (1)
TUCSON SCORING: Ben McCartney (2), Sam Lipkin (3)
Roadrunners Can’t Overcome Early Deficit in 6-2 Loss to Henderson
Henderson, NV – The Tucson Roadrunners (5-7-0-0) fell behind by three goals and couldn’t climb out of the early hole in its 6-2 defeat to the Henderson Silver Knights (4-8-0-0) on Friday at Lee’s Family Forum.
Henderson led 3-0 going into the third period, before Roadrunners assistant captain Ben McCartney scored to cut the deficit to two in the opening three minutes of the final frame. The Silver Knights added a pair of late empty-net goals, and rookie forward Sam Lipkin tallied his third goal of the season in the closing seconds of the game. In net, goaltender Matthew Villalta made 25 saves on 29 shots faced.
YA GOTTA SEE IT
McCartney sparked the Roadrunners’ comeback bid after putting Tucson on the board three minutes into the third period off a faceoff in the offensive zone. Lipkin won the draw back to defenseman Patrik Koch, who fired a pass down low to forward Kailer Yamamoto, who snapped the puck to McCartney near the top of the circle. The puck movement created a shooting lane for the assistant captain, and his slapshot snuck through Henderson goalie Jesper Vikman’s five-hole and across the goal line. It was McCartney’s second goal of the season and second-consecutive game with a point.
DON’T OVERLOOK IT
Lipkin scored with 13 seconds left in the game to notch his second goal in three games. The rookie forward also has four points in his last five games. He was paired on the second line beside McCartney and captain Austin Poganski, and the trio tallied both of the team’s goals, including McCartney’s score earlier in the period. Outside of the two goals, the line had great chemistry, dictated play when they were on the ice, and generated several quality scoring chances throughout the game.
THEY SAID IT
“I don’t think the score is completely indicative of how we played. I think it was a carryover from the game before. I don’t think you can just decide to show up and expect to get results. But, I felt like for a good portion of the game, our guys did the right things.”
Roadrunners coach Steve Potvin on his team’s performance against Henderson.
THE RUNDOWN
First Period
The Tucson Roadrunners came out strong out of the gates and created five dangerous scoring opportunities in the opening 10 minutes. McCartney generated the first one as he battled a Henderson defender one-on-one on his way to the net two and a half minutes into the game. Tucson forward Josh Doan had a good look five minutes in when he skated up the wall and ripped a shot from above the left circle with forward Egor Sokolov in front of the net, but Vikman denied Doan’s shot and Sokolov’s rebound. On the next shift, McCartney had another early chance when he received a pass in the slot from Lipkin below the Henderson blue line, but Vikman made the save. Roadrunners defenseman Peter Diliberatore also had a quality chance from the point following forward Cameron Hebig’s pass along the right wall at 7:47. The trio of Lipkin, McCartney, and Poganski continued its strong play and had another great opportunity midway through the first. Poganski ripped a shot between the circles and beat both Henderson defenders to the rebound, but Vikman denied both chances. A Roadrunners holding penalty gave the Silver Knights its first power play of the night with six minutes remaining, and Henderson capitalized on the man advantage to take a 1-0 lead at 14:42. Forward Grigori Denisenko caught a fortunate rebound off the post and buried it into the empty net. Henderson had all the momentum after the goal, and dictated most of the action in the final five minutes. Henderson had the final eight shots of the period and finished with a 15-11 shot advantage going into intermission.
Second Period
Henderson’s momentum from the end of the first period carried into the middle frame. Forward Mitch McLain found the back of the net 26 seconds in to give the Silver Knights a 2-0 lead. Henderson had the first three shots on goal, but the ice slowly tilted back in Tucson’s favor after Denisenko’s tripping penalty gave the Roadrunners its first power play of the night. Tucson kept the puck in Henderson’s zone for most of the duration of the man advantage and the power play unit generated five shots on goal. Although the Roadrunners didn’t capitalize on the score sheet, the extended time in the offensive zone helped get the Roadrunners back in rhythm and the team stacked consecutive effective shifts after the power play. However, Tucson’s momentum was stopped midway through the period after Henderson forward Brendan Brisson picked up a loose rebound and scored into a wide-open net to put the Silver Knights ahead 3-0. Facing a three-goal deficit, forward Hunter Drew dropped the gloves for the second time this season and fought McLain with 6:25 left. The fight gave the Roadrunners a spark, and the team finished the period strong with three unanswered shots on goal. Both teams had eight shots in the period, but a late Tucson hooking minor gave Henderson its second man-advantage of the game.
Third Period
Tucson killed the remaining 1:12 of the Silver Knights’ power play and scored a minute and a half later to cut the deficit to 3-1 after McCartney hammered a slapshot off an offensive zone draw at 2:53. A couple of shifts later, Poganski nearly found the back of the net on a two-on-one with forward Travis Barron. Tucson continued its aggressive attack and the backend was forced to take chances in the offensive facing a two-goal deficit. The Silver Knights nearly made the Roadrunners pay when Denisenko intercepted the puck en route to a breakaway. However, Villalta made a huge save to keep the Roadrunners in the game with 8:27 remaining. Tucson recovered and outshot the Silver Knights 4-1 over the next eight minutes before pulling Villalta with two minutes remaining. Henderson added two late empty-net goals and an even-strength goal from forward Braeden Bowman with one minute remaining. Despite the five-goal deficit, the Roadrunners didn’t quit, and Lipkin scored with 13 seconds left to make it a 6-2 game. His final shot gave Tucson an 11-8 shot advantage in the period.
The Roadrunners conclude its three-game road trip and two-game series against the Henderson Silver Knights on Saturday at Lee’s Family Forum. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. MST. The game will be available to stream on AHLTV on FLO HOCKEY.
