Game #37: Tucson Roadrunners (2) vs Henderson Silver Knights (4)
Game #37: Tucson Roadrunners vs Henderson Silver Knights
SOG: TUC (43) –HSK (27)
PP: TUC (0/4) – HSK (2/4)
HENDERSON SCORING: Lukas Cormier (3), Alex Swelikoff (3), Brandon Hickey (1), Grigori Denisenko (13)
TUCSON SCORING: Milos Kelemen (7), Austin Poganski (8)
Defensemen Patrik Koch plays a heavy game of hockey. The sun rises in the east. Now that we’ve said two indisputable facts, enjoy this video of Koch laying the lumber on a Henderson Silver Knights player. Koch, in his first year with the Roadrunners, has a goal, eight assists and 40 penalty minutes in 40 games this season.
DON’T OVERLOOK IT
AUSTIN, BUT NOT THE CITY IN TEXAS – Poganski. It’s Austin Poganski and he is hotter than the salsa at Reforma Modern Mexican in Tucson. Poganski has three goals in his last five games and has factored in on four of the last five goals the Roadrunners have scored. He has five goals and five assists in his last 13 games.
LOOK AT THIS
A scrum in front of the net during the third period of Friday night’s game would have gloves, helmets, sticks, and probably random objects you wouldn’t expect to see on the ice in a hockey game flying in the air as the two teams introduced themselves to one another. What was a near game-tying goal for the Roadrunners resulted in a 5-on-3 power play for the Henderson Silver Knights.
THEY SAID IT
“Every chance that they had, we gave them an opportunity and they capitalized. We have to regroup and be ready for tomorrow. Tomorrow is a new day, we wake up, come to the rink and get ready for 60 minutes on the ice.”
Captain Steven Kampfer after Tucson’s 4-2 loss to Henderson on Friday night.
THE RUNDOWN
An early hooking minor on Tucson would kick off the weekend series with Henderson on the wrong foot. A second hooking minor would soon follow, and Tucson would find themselves having to defend a 5-on-3 shorthanded situation. Henderson’s power-play would come out strong and find the back of the net giving them the early 1-0 lead. The Roadrunners would kill-off the next Henderson power-play and have a chance of their own on the man advantage but came up empty. Tucson would outshoot Henderson 13-6 in the period and 43-27 on the night.
In the second, the Silver Knights would light the lamp for a second time and take the two-goal advantage. The Roadrunners, currently in first place in the Pacific Division, would answer back with a Milos Kelemen goal at the 6:39 mark cutting the Henderson lead in half. Kelemen was assisted by Peter Diliberatore and Victor Soderstrom on the play. Just under five minutes later Austin Poganski would continue his scoring streak and light the lamp tying the game at 2-2. Poganski, with five goals and five assists in his last 13 games, was assisted by Nathan Smith and Max Szuber who both picked up their 13th assists on the year. With the game knotted up at 2-2 it would be Henderson who would have the hot hand and score again, taking the 3-2 lead. The second period would wrap up with the Henderson one-goal advantage and the strong Tucson crowd was locked into a great final period for their first place Roadrunners.
The third period became a bit of a special teams affair as a total of eight penalties would be called, four for each side. The dagger for Tucson would come at the 7:32 mark as interference and hooking minors were called on the Roadrunners. These minor penalties would put Henderson back on the 5-on-3 power-play. Henderson would not take it for granted as they buried a shot at the 8:25 mark and extended their lead to 4-2. Tucson would fight to answer back but time would expire and the Silver Knights would hold on.
