Game #26: Tucson Roadrunners (4) @ Abbotsford Canucks (2)
Game #26: Tucson Roadrunners (4) at Abbotsford Canucks (2)
SOG: TUC (29) – ABB (27)
PP: TUC (1/4) – ABB (1/5)
ABBOTSFORD SCORING: Danila Klimovich (11), John Stevens (4)
TUCSON SCORING: Josh Doan (7), Hunter Drew (9), Austin Poganski (5), Cameron Hebig (6)
Roadrunners Rally Again to Top Canucks, Extend Winning Streak to Six Games
ABBOTSFORD, B.C. – For the second consecutive game, the Tucson Roadrunners (16-10-0-0) overcame a third-period deficit to defeat the Abbotsford Canucks 4-2 on Saturday at the Abbotsford Centre. The Canucks (14-12-0-1) took an early lead in the final frame, but the Roadrunners responded with three unanswered goals to extend their season-high winning streak to six games.
Josh Doan opened the scoring for Tucson just two minutes into the game. Hunter Drew tied the game 2-2 early in the third period with his third goal of the series. Captain Austin Poganski netted the game-winner with 6:30 remaining, and Cameron Hebig sealed the victory with an empty-net goal in the final minute, finishing with two points on the night.
Kailer Yamamoto tallied two assists, including one on Poganski’s decisive goal. Goaltender Dylan Wells made his first start since Nov. 27, stopping 27 shots to earn his second win of the season and improve to 2-0.
YA GOTTA SEE IT
Poganski completed Tucson’s comeback with a go-ahead goal late in the third period, marking his fifth of the season and second game-winning goal. Three of Poganski’s goals have come in the last five games.
Hebig notched an assist on Poganski’s goal, extending his point streak to four games. He has two goals and three assists in that stretch and has tallied 10 points in his last 11 games. Kailer Yamamoto also added an assist to complete his two-point night, his fifth multi-point game of the season—second only to Egor Sokolov, who leads the team with six.
DON’T OVERLOOK IT
Doan was a one-man wrecking machine in the first period, leading all skaters with five shots and scoring the opening goal on the power play just two minutes into the game. It marked Doan’s third power-play goal of the season, the second-highest total on the team behind Egor Sokolov’s four.
The tally also brought Doan’s power-play points total to eight, ranking third on the team behind Sokolov and Andrew Agozzino. Agozzino notched an assist on the play, improving his power-play points total to nine. Him and Doan have been on fire over the last month. Doan has tallied 14 points (5 goals, 9 assists) in his last 13 games, while Agozzino has matched that output with 14 points (6 goals, 8 assists) in his last 12 contests.
THEY SAID IT
“We never gave up, kept fighting, and were resilient. And how we played wears teams down, and that’s how we’ve won these last two games.”
Roadrunners captain Austin Poganski on sweeping the Canucks.
THE RUNDOWN
First Period
An early slashing penalty put the Roadrunners on the power play just over a minute into the game. On the man advantage, a failed attempt to keep the puck in the zone led to a Canucks two-one-one rush the other way, but Wells turned aside Aatu Räty’s wrist shot. Tucson’s power-play unit regrouped and Yamamoto skated the puck up ice and into the Abbotsford zone. Doan joined the rush and buried a one-time feed from forward Yamamoto to put the Roadrunners ahead 2:06 into the first.
Doan created another scoring opportunity five minutes into the period when he dangled through the Canucks backend and fired a quick wrist shot between the circles, which Abbotsford goalie Nikita Tolopilo secured.
The Canucks had a golden opportunity to tie the game from a Roadrunners holding penalty at 8:52. Wells continued his strong play early in the game and denied a couple of point shots from Abbotsford’s Jonathan Lekkerimäki and Cole McWard. He made five saves total to help Tucson kill the penalty.
The Roadrunners maintained their aggressive play at even strength, and Doan continued to drive the attack. He nearly scored again off the rush with a quick shot from the right circle that slipped through Tolopilo’s pads but stayed out.
A slashing call against Tucson with 5:27 left in the period gave Abbotsford another power play. The Roadrunners’ penalty kill dominated once again, preventing any shots on goal. During the kill, Doan intercepted a pass and took the puck cross-ice, firing a shot from the left wing to eat up valuable time on the Canucks’ man advantage.
Tensions flared late in the period when Andrew Agozzino and Abbotsford’s Arshdeep Bains engaged in a shoving match near Tucson’s bench. After the whistle, Tucson’s assistant captain Travis Barron joined in and was penalized for roughing, giving Abbotsford a third power-play chance with three minutes remaining. The Roadrunners penalty kill stifled the Canucks, allowing just one shot.
In the closing seconds of the period, forward Egor Sokolov intercepted the puck near center ice and set up Doan on a breakaway. Doan approached Tolopilo with speed, but the Canucks netminder made a clutch save on Doan’s fifth shot of the period to keep it 1-0 heading into the intermission.
Second Period
The Roadrunners came out strong to start the second period, and controlled possession in the Abbotsford zone right off the opening draw. Poganski and Hebig created a pair of early scoring opportunities. Tucson’s aggressive play almost cost them, as the Canucks countered with a two-on-one rush. However, Wells came up big, making a sliding pad save on Nils Åman to preserve the Roadrunners’ 1-0 lead.
A hooking penalty against Abbotsford shortly after gave Tucson their second power-play opportunity of the game. The Roadrunners came close to extending their lead, with Kailer Yamamoto setting up Andrew Agozzino for a one-timer. Tolopilo made a point-blank save on the initial attempt, and the Canucks defense blocking the ensuing rebound attempts from both Agozzino and Doan to keep the deficit at one.
The Roadrunners were called for cross-checking eight minutes into the second period, giving the Canucks their fourth power-play opportunity of the game. Abbotsford tested Wells early and often on the power play, and Bains came close to scoring, but his shot rang off the crossbar. The Canucks continued to get pucks on net, and forward Danila Klimovich beat Wells to tie the game 1-1 just over 10 minutes into the period.
Abbotsford’s equalizer opened up the flow of the game, with both teams trading high-quality chances in the latter half of the frame, including a pair of breakaway chances in the final minute. Canucks forward Sammy Blais charged in alone on Wells, but the Tucson goalie made a split save to keep it a one-goal game. Sokolov secured the rebound and fired an outlet pass to Doan to set up a breakaway. One again, Doan flew towards Tolopilo, but his snapshot sailed inches high of the crossbar.
Third Period
The Canucks took their first lead of the night 4:22 into the third period on a fortunate bounce. Defenseman Kirill Kudryavtsev dumped the puck in from center ice, and it caromed off the boards toward the front of the net. As Tucson goalie Matthew Wells scrambled to return to his crease, Abbotsford assistant captain John Stevens pounced on the loose puck and buried it into the open net.
The Roadrunners responded just 1:30 later, shaking off the unlucky goal to tie the game. In the Abbotsford zone, Hunter Drew intercepted Elias Pettersson’s backhand clearing attempt and ripped a quick shot into the top corner past goaltender Aku Tolopilo at 5:50 to make it 2-2.
Tucson had an opportunity to reclaim the lead after a Canucks holding penalty gave the Roadrunners their third power play of the game with just over 10 minutes left. The man advantage generated a flurry of chances, including a pair of one-timers from Egor Sokolov, but the Roadrunners couldn’t capitalize.
Minutes later, Tucson broke through in dramatic fashion. Off the rush, Hebig and Yamamoto created a two-on-one opportunity. Hebig dropped the puck back to Yamamoto, who hesitated briefly as Poganski joined the play to create a numbers advantage. Yamamoto passed it back to Poganski in the slot, and the captain hammered it past Tolopilo to give the Roadrunners a 3-2 lead with 6:30 remaining.
Abbotsford was called for a high-sticking penalty just a minute after Tucson’s go-ahead goal, giving the Roadrunners another power play opportunity to control the puck and drain precious time in the offensive zone.
Wells was unphased by the mishap earlier in the period, and made critical stops down the stretch, including a sharp-angle save on Klimovich, to preserve Tucson’s lead. Moments later, Cameron Hebig secured the victory with an empty-net goal in the final minute, extending the Roadrunners’ lead to 4-2.
The Roadrunners will return home and enjoy a week-long break before hosting the Colorado Eagles for a two-game series at Tucson Arena. Game one is scheduled for a 7 p.m. MST. The game will be available to stream on AHLTV on FLO HOCKEY and tickets can be purchased using the link here.
