Game #47: Tucson Roadrunners (3) vs Ontario Reign (2)
Game #47: Tucson Roadrunners vs Ontario Reign
SOG: TUC (32) – ONT (38)
PP: TUC (2/6) – ONT (2/5)
ONTARIO SCORING: Samuel Fagemo (22, 23)
TUCSON SCORING: John Leonard (10), Josh Doan (21), Nathan Smith (6)
Josh Doan is not doanin’ around this year. Or… joshin’ around this year we should say. The Scottsdale native and Tucson Roadrunners leading point scorer now has recorded 35 points this season including 21 goals and 14 assists. Doan has now scored a goal in five consecutive games and recorded three points Saturday night (1 goal, 2 assists).
DON’T OVERLOOK IT
BEAT THE BEST TO BE THE BEST- If you were looking at the AHL Special Teams statistics you would find that the Ontario Reign lead the league in penalty kill rate on the road this season at 90.8% coming into tonight. If you were looking at the box score of tonight’s game you would see find that the Tucson Roadrunners scored two power-play goals against the vaunted Reign kill unit. Ontario had given up just seven power-play goals in 23 road games this season until John Leonard and Josh Doan lit the lamp for Tucson. They say it all the time, but you have to beat the best to be the best.
LOOK AT THIS
Tucson Roadrunners celebrate in the second period of Saturday nights contest following a Josh Doan power-play goal. John Leonard, Josh Doan, and Steven Kampfer (facing the camera) all recorded points in the game. Doan had a goal and two assists, Kampfer has two assists and Leonard had a goal. The Roadrunners are now 24-1-0-1 when scoring the first goal of the game, tonight it was John Leonard who did so for the Roadrunners.
THEY SAID IT
“It was a good bounce back; it was not what we wanted to see yesterday, and the bounce back today shows the character of our group. I thought we did a really good job after the game (Friday night) turning the page and preparing for tonight. Our special teams are so important in this league and getting two goals against a team like this was huge.”
Forward Austin Poganski following Tucson’s 3-2 win on Saturday night.
THE RUNDOWN
Saturday night was a lot more favorable for the home Roadrunners, wearing their black Kachina jerseys, as they defeated the Ontario Reign 3-2 despite getting outshot 38-32 on the night. The 0-0 tie was broken up at the 7:26 mark of the first frame as John Leonard would rip one past the Ontario goalie and score on the power-play for the Roadrunners. Leonard picked up his 10th goal of the season and was assisted by Josh Doan and Steven Kampfer. Tucson netminder Dylan Wells was fantastic in the first period, and throughout the night, making 10 saves in the first, 13 in the second and 13 in the third.
Another power-play goal for the Roadrunners would come in the first minute of the second period. This time it was team points leader Josh Doan scoring for the good guys and tallying his 21st goal of the year. Doan was assisted by Steven Kampfer and Austin Poganski on the play. Steven Kampfer, Captain of the Roadrunners, picked up his second point on the night on Doan’s power-play goal. Tucson would keep the two-goal lead for most of the second period until the 17:29 mark. At that point it was Nathan Smith who would light the lamp for the Roadrunners, extending the lead to three. Smith was assisted by Josh Doan and Patrik Koch. Doan recorded his first three-point night of the season.
Tucson would maintain the three-goal lead for the first 14 and a half minutes of the third before Ontario would show some offense and score their first of the night on a 5-on-3 power-play. With the one-man advantage, just over a minute later, Ontario would cut the Tucson lead to one making it a 3-2 game. The final four and half minutes would be nerve racking for the Tucson faithful, but the team, fueled by the crowd, would hold off the Reign and secure the 3-2 victory.
