Game #61: Tucson Roadrunners (3) @ Colorado Eagles (5)
Game #61: Tucson Roadrunners (3) at Colorado Eagles (5)
SOG: TUC (34) – COL (28)
PP: TUC (0/2) – COL (0/3)
COLORADO SCORING: Chase Bradley (13), Mark Senden (6), Tye Felhaber (19, 20), Chad Hillebrand (2)
TUCSON SCORING: Ben McCartney (13), Artem Duda (4), Sammy Walker (8)
Roadrunners Fall 5-3 in Back-and-Forth Battle with Eagles
Loveland, CO – The Tucson Roadrunners (29-27-3-2) wrapped up their weekend series against the Colorado Eagles (37-16-5-3) with a hard-fought 5-3 loss on Sunday at Blue FCU Arena, dropping their second straight game.
Roadrunners captain Austin Poganski led the way with a three-assist performance—his second three-point night of the season—while alternate captain Ben McCartney notched his seventh multi-point game of the year with a goal and an assist.
McCartney tied the game 1-1 late in the first period, and just 58 seconds into the second, he assisted on Artem Duda’s tally to give Tucson a 2-1 lead. However, Colorado responded with two goals in the latter half of the period, as Mark Senden and Tye Felhaber put the Eagles back in front 3-2, marking the third lead change of the night.
Chad Hillebrand extended Colorado’s lead to 4-2 with five minutes remaining in regulation, but the Roadrunners fought back. With goaltender Dylan Wells pulled for an extra attacker, Sammy Walker buried a loose puck with 1:57 left to cut the deficit to 4-3. Tucson pressed for the equalizer, but Felhaber sealed the win with an empty-net goal—his second of the night—to cap off Colorado’s victory.
YA GOTTA SEE IT
Duda’s one-timer just 58 seconds into the second period gave Tucson its first lead of the series. The tally marked Duda’s fourth goal of the season and his third point (1G, 2A) in his last four games. The 20-year-old rookie ranks third in goals and second in points (25) among Roadrunner defensemen.
Poganski set up the goal with a sharp feed from the side of the net, picking up his second point of the night. The assist pushed Poganski to 32 points on the season, surpassing his previous career high (31) set last year and in 2018-19 with the San Antonio Rampage. He wasn’t finished there—Poganski added another helper on Walker’s late third-period goal, capping off his second three-assist performance of the season and finishing the series with four points (1G, 3A). Poganski now has four multi-point games and 33 points on the year.
DON’T OVERLOOK IT
McCartney’s first-period one-timer tied the game 1-1 and extended his recent hot streak. The fifth-year pro later added an assist on Duda’s second-period goal, giving him three goals and five points in his last four games. McCartney now has 13 goals and 27 points on the season—his second-highest total behind his 18-goal, 35-point sophomore campaign in 2021-22. He’s also recorded seven multi-point games this year.
THEY SAID IT
“That’s a good team over there. Got to give them a lot of credit. I liked our fight. In both games we were able to continue our will and game plan throughout the whole game and not give up. So, we gotta give our guys credit for that, but at the end of the day, we have to get some wins here. We’ll look to regroup and take care of business next game.”
Roadrunners captain Austin Poganski on his takeaways from the Colorado series
THE RUNDOWN
FIRST PERIOD
Making his first start since Dec. 21, Wells made an early statement with a highlight-reel glove save 4:10 into the game, robbing Eagles forward Jason Polin’s one-timer from the low right circle.
Despite Wells’ strong start, Colorado broke through at the 7:30 mark when forward Chase Bradley carried the puck into the Tucson zone and fired a hard wrister past Wells’ glove to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead.
Just 45 seconds later, Tucson defenseman Max Szuber was called for interference, putting Colorado on the power play. Facing an early test, the Roadrunners’ penalty kill unit stepped up, blocking multiple shots and preventing the Eagles from registering a single attempt on goal.
Back at even strength, Tucson generated its first dangerous scoring chance when McCartney broke loose on a mini-breakaway with 7:10 remaining. Winning a footrace to a loose puck in the high slot, McCartney deked to his backhand, but his shot rolled just wide of the post.
McCartney didn’t miss on his next opportunity. With 5:14 left in the period, Poganski worked the puck behind the net and found McCartney open at the back door, where he buried a one-timer to tie the game 1-1 heading into the first intermission.
SECOND PERIOD
The Roadrunners carried their momentum from the first period into the second, and Duda wasted no time putting Tucson ahead 2-1. Just 57 seconds in, Poganski set up Duda with a back-handed feed to the top of the left circle, where the defenseman hammered home a one-timer for his fifth goal of the season.
Facing their first deficit of the series, the Eagles pushed back hard and nearly tied the game five minutes in. However, Wells stood tall and made back-to-back point-blank saves on Jean-Luc Foudy to preserve Tucson’s lead.
A holding penalty against Colorado’s Calle Rosén seven minutes into the frame gave the Roadrunners their first power-play opportunity of the game. Tucson generated several quality chances, with Poganski, Walker, and Andrew Agozzino testing Eagles netminder Kevin Mandolese. However, the Roadrunners couldn’t convert, and moments after the power play expired, Colorado struck back. Senden finished off an odd-man rush to even the score at 2-2 at 10:35.
With the game deadlocked, tempers flared with 6:45 left in the period when Tucson’s Travis Barron dropped the gloves with Hillebrand. Barron also picked up a roughing minor, putting Colorado on the power play. But the Eagles’ advantage was cut short when McCartney forced a short-handed breakaway and drew a tripping call on Rosén.
Tucson had an abbreviated power play after Barron’s penalty expired, but Colorado regained the lead just seconds later. Felhaber capitalized on a turnover and buried a shorthanded goal with four minutes left in the period to put the Eagles back in front 3-2 heading into intermission.
THIRD PERIOD
Pushing for the equalizer, the Roadrunners came out strong in the final frame, outshooting Colorado 8-1 through the first 14 minutes.
That stretch included a critical penalty kill after Hunter Drew was whistled for hooking at the nine-minute mark. Tucson’s penalty kill unit stepped up once again, holding the Eagles without a shot on goal during their power play.
Despite controlling much of the period, the Roadrunners couldn’t find the tying goal, and Colorado capitalized on just its third shot of the frame. With Wells sprawled out in the crease, Hillebrand crashed the net and buried a loose rebound to extend the Eagles’ lead to 4-2 with five minutes remaining.
Tucson responded by pulling Wells for an extra attacker with 2:32 left, and the move paid off. Walker found a loose rebound in front and buried it with 1:57 remaining to cut the deficit to 4-3.
The Roadrunners pulled Wells again after gaining offensive zone possession, but Felhaber sealed the win for Colorado, netting his second goal of the night into the empty net with 1:23 left to secure the Eagles’ 5-3 victory.
UP NEXT
The Roadrunners continue their five-game road trip with a midweek matchup against the Ontario Reign on Wednesday at Toyota Arena. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. MST, and fans can catch the action live on AHLTV on FloHockey.
