Game #62: Tucson Roadrunners (0) vs San Jose Barracuda (4)
Game #62: Tucson Roadrunners vs San Jose Barracuda
SOG: TUC (27) – SJ (40)
PP: TUC (0/5) – SJ (3/9)
SAN JOSE SCORING: Danil Gushchin (15), Cole Cassels (9), Oscar Lindblom (8), Ethan Caldwell (19)
TUCSON SCORING: N/A
When Dylan Wells is in net things usually go well for the Tucson Roadrunners. Wells, a sixth year pro, recorded 36 saves on Sunday afternoon and only allowed a single 5-on-5 goal. Wells is 8-5-2-1 on the year and has a .897 save percentage for the Roadrunners. The 2016 Edmonton Oilers draft pick is in his first season with the Tucson Roadrunners.
DON’T OVERLOOK IT
GOOD THINGS COME IN THREE’S – The way the standings are currently shaking out after 61 regular season games for the Roadrunners have the team from Tucson in second place behind Coachella Valley. The playoff magic number is three, which could come in a combination of ways. The easiest path would be a Tucson win on Friday night, and a San Diego loss in the Gulls next contest. The Roadrunners 77 points and second place in the Pacific Division is only seven points higher than the seventh place team, meaning a lot can happen and change in the final month of the regular season. Regardless, Tucson will look to clinch a playoff berth at home on Friday, March 29th.
LOOK AT THIS
Forward Jan Jenik drops the gloves for the Roadrunners in the third period of Sunday afternoon’s 4-0 loss to the San Jose Barracuda. Jenik, who had fought once before this season, was the second of three Roadrunners to drop the gloves in the contest. Montana Onyebuchi and Ben McCartney would protect their guys and drop the mitts. Five Roadrunners players would get misconduct penalties and a total of 148 penalty minutes were given out in the game.
THEY SAID IT
“They (San Jose) play scrappy and hard and we have to be a little better in responding to their hits. We have to stick to our plan and play between the whistles. People say it is a game of inches and we were inches short today, we have to learn from it for the next game,”
Forward Jan Jenik following Tucson’s 4-0 loss to San Jose on Sunday afternoon.
THE RUNDOWN
Sunday afternoon’s matchup between the Tucson Roadrunners and San Jose Barracuda began similarly to Saturday afternoon’s contest, with a San Jose goal in the first period. Although it took 18:36 for the 0-0 tie to be broken on Sunday, compared to just 48 seconds on Saturday, it was the Barracuda who would score first. San Jose would light the lamp on the power-play. Montana Onyebuchi dropped the gloves for the Roadrunners in the first, a period that featured three minor penalties on San Jose, five minor penalties on Tucson, and a fighting call on both sides.
The second frame was filled with more offensive chances for the Roadrunners, but no change in score for the good guys in white. Tucson outshot San Jose 14-6 in the frame, but one of the San Jose shots was a power-play goal which extended their lead to 2-0. Tucson netminder Dylan Wells was fantastic in the first two frames, not allowing a 5-on-5 goal in either period and making a total of 22 saves. Tucson had three power-play opportunities in the frame but were unable to score.
San Jose would score their first even strength goal of the game at 8:47 to take a 3-0 lead and would score a third power-play goal at the 11:37 mark of period three to give them a 4-0 lead. Frustrations would brew for the Roadrunners and the penalties would start being handed out. Five Roadrunners would receive misconducts in the third as well as three San Jose players. The game totaled 148 penalty minutes between the two sides. Dylan Wells would end the afternoon with 36 saves and a .900 save percentage on the afternoon.
