Game #56: Tucson Roadrunners (4) vs Henderson Silver Knights (0)
Game #56: Tucson Roadrunners vs Henderson Silver Knights
SOG: TUC (33) – HSK (31)
PP: TUC (1/3) – HSK (0/7)
HENDERSON SCORING:
TUCSON SCORING: Austin Poganski (13), Colin Theisen (5), Ben McCartney (3), Jan Jenik (13)
We’re not talking ice cream we are talking saves. 31 of them. 31 saves for the wall that Roadrunners fans know better as Matthew Villalta. Tuesday was Villalta’s third shutout of the season for the fifth year pro from Godfrey, ON. Villalta and the Roadrunners were fantastic against the Henderson power-play stopping all seven they faced. Villalta has a goals-against-average of 2.70 and a save percentage of .908.
DON’T OVERLOOK IT
FIRST IN LAST OUT – Those of you Roadrunners fans who have worked in the food industry are currently rolling your eyes hearing the “first in first out” rhetoric your manager instilled in you; but we are talking about the first five minutes and last five minutes of periods for the Tucson Roadrunners. The Roadrunners have scored 11 of their last 15 goals against Henderson in either the first or last five minutes of the period (5:13 technically, but who’s counting). Tuesday night marked the second time in two games against Henderson that the Roadrunners have scored twice in 65 seconds or less. All four Roadrunners goals from Tuesday evening were in the first or last 5:13 of a period.
LOOK AT THIS
Defenseman Montana Onyebuchi dropped the gloves in the first period against a Henderson Silver Knight player. If there was one place on earth that a photo shows you where not to be, the Henderson player is it. While the tilt was not official, just a roughing minor on Onyebuchi was called, the defenseman leads the Roadrunners this season in PIMs with 103.
THEY SAID IT
“It was a fun game; we got the crowd going early and the boys came ready to go. We have to keep it going and keep our head down moving forward,”
Forward Jan Jenik following Tucson’s 4-0 victory over Henderson on Tuesday night.
THE RUNDOWN
It was a Tucson Tuesday if there ever was such a thing as the Roadrunners shutout the Henderson Silver Knights behind a 31 save performance from Matthew Villalta. The Roadrunners added three first period goals to jump out early and kept their foot on the gas for the full 60 minutes. Austin Poganski would start things early for the Roadrunners scoring just 3:12 into the first period. Poganski was assisted by Cam Crotty and Justin Kirkland. Just over a minute later, Colin Theisen would score for the Roadrunners as they jumped to an early 2-0 lead. Josh Doan and Jan Jenik assisted Theisen.
It would be another 10 minutes of play in the first period before Ben McCartney would bury a shot in the back of the net and give Tucson a 3-0 lead. Patrik Koch and Austin Poganski picked up assists, and Poganski became the first two-point scorer of the night for the Roadrunners.
Alas, in the final minute of period two, Tucson would get on the board again with a power-play goal from Jan Jenik. Jenik’s goal, assisted by Justin Kirkland and Steven Kampfer, gave Tucson the 4-0 lead. Jenik and Kirkland would both tally their second points of the night joining Austin Poganski as a multiple-point scorer. For Jenik, it was his second multiple-point game in a row against Henderson.
The final period, but really the entire game, was taken over by Tucson netminder Matthew Villalta. The first-year Roadrunner would tally his third shutout of the season in a 31 save effort. Villalta would face 13 shots in the first, eight in the second and ten in the third. He faced pressure all night as Henderson had seven power-play opportunities. The special play on special teams would help Tucson secure two-points in a playoff race that is heating up.
