Game #15: Tucson Roadrunners (6) vs Calgary Wranglers (2)
Game #15: Tucson Roadrunners (6) vs Calgary Wranglers (2)
SOG: TUC (39) – CGY (36)
PP: TUC (2/3) – CGY (1/3)
CALGARY SCORING: Dryden Hunt (3), Clark Bishop (9)
TUCSON SCORING: Sam Lipkin (5,6), Kailer Yamamoto (4), Cameron Hebig (3), Josh Doan (4), Montana Onyebuchi (1)
Roadrunners Route Calgary 6-2 to Complete the Sweep
Tucson, AZ – The Tucson Roadrunners (8-7-0-0) scored five unanswered goals to take down the Calgary Wranglers (13-5-1-0) by a score of 6-2 on Saturday at Tucson Arena. With the victory, Tucson completed its second sweep of the season and is riding a season-high three-game winning streak.
Tucson’s six goals were the most the team has scored in one game this season, with four Roadrunners recording multi-point nights. Forward Sam Lipkin notched two goals, forwards Kailer Yamamoto and Josh Doan both had a goal and an assist, and captain Austin Poganski tallied three assists. Forward Cameron Hebig also found the back of the net, and defenseman Montana Onyebuchi scored his first of the season on a late empty-net goal.
Roadrunners goalie Matthew Villalta made 34 saves and shut down one of the top-scoring teams in the league for the second night in a row. It was Villalta’s first back-to-back start of the season, notching his second-straight win for the first-time this year.
YA GOTTA SEE IT
Saturday was Lipkin’s first-career two-goal game after he found the back of the net off the rush early in the third period. It was also the first time he has scored in consecutive games. The 21-year-old rookie has been the model of consistency over the last month, with seven points in his last eight games. He’s also notched four goals in the last four games.
DON’T OVERLOOK IT
Poganski registered all three of his assists in the last two periods. He’s the first Roadrunner to have three assists in one game this season and just the second to have three points in a single night. The captain has a season-high three-game points streak, with five points in that span.
THEY SAID IT
“I thought in these two games against Calgary, we really stuck together and grew as a team. We executed what we planned and I think we can grow from this.”
Roadrunners captain Austin Poganski on the team’s three-game win streak.
THE RUNDOWN
First Period
It was a back-and-forth opening 10 minutes where both sides exchanged five shots apiece, but neither team’s backend gave up much ground until two penalties on both teams opened things up on the ice. Calgary forward Clark Bishop’s delay of game penalty put the Roadrunners on the power play 12 minutes in, and Tucson took advantage. Sokolov rifled two straight one-timers from the left circle, but Cooley denied both shots. With seconds to spare on Bishop’s penalty, Lipkin buried a rebound from Duda’s point shot to give Tucson a 1-0 lead at 13:51, but it didn’t last for long. On the next shift, a Roadrunners tripping penalty gave the Wranglers its first power play. Off the ensuing faceoff, forward Dryden Hunt found the back of the net to tie the game 1-1. Tucson answered Calgary’s response and created some dangerous scoring chances late in the period. Sokolov fired a hard shot that rang off the post with a few minutes left. Shortly after, defenseman Robbie Russo had an open shooting lane from above the slot and narrowly missed the open left corner of the net. The Roadrunners had 15 shots on goal in the opening frame after its strong finish. It was the most first-period shots Tucson has had in a game this season, surpassing the team’s previous high of 12 against San Diego on Nov. 9.
Second Period
The Wranglers dictated play to start the middle frame and tallied the first three shots and the first goal. Calgary forward Martin Frk shot from the outside caught net-front traffic, but Bishop snapped the loose puck past Villalta 1:46 into the period to put Calgary ahead 2-1 for its first lead of the series. A Roadrunners cross-checking penalty further put the team on its back foot, but Cooley was called for a delay of game 30 seconds later after he accidentally flipped the puck over the glass. The penalty negated the Wranglers’ brief power play, and the Roadrunners controlled play during four-on-four. Cooley made a sprawling save to stop Russo’s bomb from the point and captain Austin Poganski’s ensuing rebound attempt. Tucson had an abbreviated power play and almost found the equalizer when Yamamoto fed Agozzino a quick pass from behind the net, but Cooley denied the one-timer. The Roadrunners broke through a few minutes later when Doan stole the puck from Calgary defenseman Jonathan Aspirot behind the Wranglers’ goal line as Yamamoto crashed the net behind him. Doan snapped a quick pass out front to Yamamoto, who buried it into the right corner to tie the game 2-2 at 9:50. The game opened up for Tucson and the Roadrunners scored two more goals in less than six minutes to take a 4-2 lead going into the second intermission. Hebig found pay dirt on his fifth shot of the game to make it 3-2 at 12:18. After securing its first lead of the game, Doan put the Roadrunners ahead by two goals at 15:39. Doan received a pass across the slot from Poganski and sniped Cooley bar down for his second point of the game.
Third Period
Down a pair of goals, Calgary desperately tried to get back in the game and registered the first five shots on goal, but Villalta made a few big saves to preserve the lead. After surviving the Wrangler’s early onslaught, the Roadrunners tallied its fourth unanswered goal. Forward Aku Räty chipped the puck out of Tucson’s zone and passed it to forward Ben McCartney in the neutral zone. McCartney immediately snapped it back, and Räty flew into the Calgary zone with Lipkin on a two-on-one. The Czech forward delivered a pass above the crease to Lipkin for a tap-in goal to put Tucson ahead 5-2 with 13:10 remaining. Calgary pulled Cooley with three and a half minutes remaining, and Roadrunners defenseman Montana Onyebuchi scored an empty-netter from a cross-ice shot with 1:45 remaining to make it 6-2.
The Roadrunners have a short turnaround, closing its four-game homestand with a two-game slate against the Coachella Valley Firebirds on Tuesday and Wednesday at Tucson Arena. Puck drop will be at 6:30 p.m. MST for both contests. Tickets can be purchased using the link here. The game will be available to stream on AHLTV on FLO HOCKEY.
