Game #49 – Roadrunners at Gulls

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8:00 p.m. MST, Pechanga Arena, San Diego, California

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Referees: Jake Kamrass (3) Casey Terreri (75)

Linespersons: Patrick Stuber (32) Nikolaus Diehr (31)

The Tucson Roadrunners will continue their road trip with a midweek matchup against the San Diego Gulls Tuesday night from the Pechanga Arena. The standalone contest marks the fifth meeting in the eight-game season series between the Roadrunners and Gulls, and the first since December 23, 2022, at the Tucson Arena. Tuesday marks the start of a three-game home stand for San Diego, while the Roadrunners will wrap up their seven-game Gem Show Trip Wednesday night in Palm Desert against the Coachella Valley Firebirds.

Three Things
1) Tucson enters the midweek matchup against the AHL affiliate of the Anaheim Ducks with a 2-0 record at the Pechanga Arena and 3-1 record overall on the season series, with both road wins coming by multiple goals. In their last outing in San Diego on December 17, 2022, the Roadrunners netted a season-high nine goals in a 9-4 win over the Gulls, which is tied for their largest margin of victory this season. In that game, Tucson’s offense exploded for a six-goal first period on 14 shots on goal before a trio of insurance tallies in the third secured the big win. The Roadrunners began the scoring that night with the fastest consecutive goals in franchise history, scored just ten seconds apart by forwards Laurent Dauphin and Mike Carcone in the opening 3:24 of the first period.

2) 20 different Roadrunners skaters have recorded a point through the first four games of the season series with San Diego this year, while 10 of the 20 possess a point per-game average or better. Tucson forward Mike Carcone leads the season series in scoring with three goals and five assists for eight total points, with forward Laurent Dauphin in second place with six points (3g 3a). In addition, defensemen Ronald Knot and Vlad Kolyachonok lead the way as plus-sevens against the Gulls this year, with 14 Roadrunners skaters entering Tuesday as a plus-one or better in the season series. On special-teams, Tucson has netted five power-play goals in 19 trips to the man-advantage against San Diego for a power-play percentage of 26.3%, as the Roadrunners enter the week with the fourth-most power-play goals in the AHL’s Pacific Division with 37.

3) Roadrunners forward and the AHL’s leading scorer Mike Carcone has consistently put up big offensive numbers against San Diego, with 24 points (15g 9a) in 16 total appearances over the last three seasons. Since joining the Roadrunners for the 2020-2021 campaign, Carcone has registered seven multiple-point outings against the Gulls, which includes a pair of hat tricks and a total of three four-point performances. In Tucson’s last contest at the Pechanga Arena, Carcone tallied his second four-point game in the span of five days on his way to being named the AHL’s Player of the Month for December 2022. Last year, the 26-year-old notched his first of two hat tricks in the month of February in a 5-4 Roadrunners win over the Gulls in San Diego on February 5, 2022.

“It’s up to us. [The Pacific Division] is real tight, and we’re right in the middle of it. It’s exciting, every game matters and every point matters. We have to be ready to go [Tuesday] and I think we will be.”

Roadrunners defenseman Cam Dineen on the AHL Pacific Division playoff race heating up with 24 games left to play for Tucson.

Number to Know
4 – The number of remaining matchups against the Gulls on Tucson’s regular season schedule, the most of any opponent over their final 24 games. Following Tuesday’s matchup from San Diego, the Roadrunners will take on the Coachella Valley Firebirds on Wednesday for the second of two total instances of back-to-back contests against different opponents this year for Tucson. The Roadrunners previously faced the Gulls and Firebirds on consecutive nights December 17 and 18, which began with a 9-4 win over San Diego at the Pechanga Arena.

We’re Doing It Live
Tonight’s game will be broadcast live on AHLtv, as well as on the radio at FOX Sports 1450AM and the iHeartRadio app. Coverage begins with a Pregame edition of Roadrunners Happy Hour from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., featuring Tucson forward Boko Imama as a Special Guest. Pregame coverage will resume at 7:45 p.m. with Roadrunners Warm-Up hosted by Jimmy Peebles, before Adrian Denny has all the action from the Pechanga Arena.