Game #14: Tucson Roadrunners (3) at Calgary Wranglers (2)
Game #14: Tucson Roadrunners at Calgary Wranglers
SOG: TUC (30) – CGY (33)
PP: TUC (1/5) – CGY (1/4)
CALGARY SCORING: Matt Coronato (5), Rory Kerins (3)
TUCSON SCORING: Hunter Drew (2), Curtis Douglas (1), Josh Doan (6)
ROADRUNNERS DEFEAT CALGARY WRANGLERS 3-2 AT THE SCOTIABANK SADDLEDOME
CALGARY, AB – The Tucson Roadrunners wrangled up two points in a 3-2 victory over the Calgary Wranglers Tuesday evening to improve to 8-5-0-1 on the season.
YA GOTTA SEE IT
Tucson Roadrunners Forward Hunter Drew scores an early first period goal giving Tucson the 1-0 lead. Drew picked up his second of the year in his return to his home country of Canada.
DON’T OVERLOOK IT
VALIENT VILLALTA – The Tucson Roadrunners netminder Matthew Villalta has been sensational all year for Tucson. Villalta is 7-4-0-1 on the year including a 2.37 goals against average and a .925 save percentage. Villalta is in his first season with the Roadrunners and Coyotes organization after spending the last four with the Ontario Reign and the Los Angeles Kings.
LOOK AT THIS
Roadrunners Forward Hunter Drew shows off the strength and flex of his stick as he rips an early first period goal. It was Drew’s second goal of the season and gave Tucson a 1-0 lead.
THEY SAID IT
When we play like that we are going to compete with everyone in the league and win games. It was a great win for us as a group; we can use this moving forward
Forward Hunter Drew after Tuesday night’s 3-2 win in Calgary
THE RUNDOWN
The Tucson Roadrunners came out in the first game of a five-game road trip firing on all cylinders. It was Canadian Forward Hunter Drew who lit the lamp for Tucson in the first and set the tone for the rest of the Tuesday evening. It marked Drew’s second goal of the year and was scored unassisted after big hits from Curtis Douglas and Travis Barron forced the puck free. It didn’t take long for a response from the Pacific Division leading Calgary Wranglers to respond – 45 seconds to be exact. In the blink of an eye, the game was tied 1-1. An Austin Poganski tripping minor would lead to a Calgary power-play which was successfully killed by the Roadrunners. Matthew Villalta was stellar all night, including stopping 12 of the 13 shots on goal he faced in the first.
Curtis Douglas was everywhere tonight and found himself putting the puck in the back of the net in the second to break the tie game. Douglas goal was the first of the season for him and he was assisted by Victor Soderstrom and Max Szuber. The Roadrunners outshot Calgary 9-7 in the period and headed into the second intermission with a 2-1 lead.
The third period became a special teams battle between the two divisional foes. A John Leonard delay of game minor would lead to a power-play goal for the Wranglers and another tie game, 2-2. Just over three minutes later it would be a Calgary slashing minor that put Tucson in the driver’s seat. Josh Doan found himself ripping a shot that would be the game-winning power-play goal on the 5-on-3. Doan was assisted by Dylan Guenther and Nathan Smith. The goal was Doan’s third power-play goal of the season, and the assist would improve Dylan Guenther’s team leading points total to 14. Calgary would pull their goalie late but Matthew Villalta and the Roadrunners would hold them off to win 3-2.
