Game #65: Tucson Roadrunners (6) at San Diego Gulls (5) (OT)

SOG: TUC (46) – SD (32)

PP: TUC (2/4) – SD (2/4)

TUCSON SCORING: Adam Cracknell (18), Mike Carcone (30), Devante Stephens (3), Jan Jenik (7 PP), Colin Theisen (6 PP), Steven Kampfer (6 OT)

SAN DIEGO SCORING: Pavol Regenda (13), Benoit-Olivier Groulx (14), Glenn Gawdin (14), Chase Priskie (9 PP), Dylan Sikura (17)

ROADRUNNERS EARN SECOND-STRAIGHT OVERTIME VICTORY WITH 6-5 COMEBACK WIN OVER SAN DIEGO

San Diego, California – The Tucson Roadrunners (30-29-6-0) defeated the San Diego Gulls in overtime Wednesday night by a final score of 6-5, as defenseman Steven Kampfer netted the overtime game-winner to secure Tucson’s second consecutive overtime victory and the I-8 Border Trophy against San Diego. Tucson overcame two-goal deficits in back-to-back periods before securing their third-straight come-from-behind victory to start their current road trip. Kampfer was also one of five Roadrunners skaters to tally multiple points in the win, with two of Tucson’s goals coming while on the power-play. The Roadrunners recorded 46 total shots on goal with at least 13 in each period: just one shot shy of their season high of 47 from an overtime matchup against Ontario on December 9. Tucson will continue their road trip in Bakersfield for a two-game series against the Condors beginning on Friday, March 31 at 7:00 p.m. MST.

YA GOTTA SEE IT

Roadrunners defenseman Steven Kampfer capped off a comeback victory against San Diego by scoring the overtime game-winning goal for Tucson with 1:47 still to play in the extra three-on-three period. The score was Kampfer’s second time lighting the lamp through three games on Tucson’s current road trip and gave the blue-liner his fourth point (2g 2a) on the trip overall. Assisting on the goal were forwards Jan Jenik and Mike Carcone, who each led the Roadrunners in scoring on Wednesday with a goal and two assists apiece. Tucson has won back-to-back overtime contests after Sunday’s 2-1 triumph against Colorado, while all three victories to start their six-game road trip have come after giving up the first goal.

DON’T OVERLOOK IT

BUSY ON THE BLUE LINE – While Wednesday’s 6-5 victory against San Diego was highlighted by Steven Kampfer’s game-winning goal in overtime, he was one of five different Roadrunners defensemen to combine for six total points in the contest. Kampfer led Tucson blue-liners with an assist to go along with his game-winner, while Devante Stephens also lit the lamp for his third goal of the season. In addition, Michael Kesselring, Cam Crotty, and Vlad Kolyachonok all added assists in the win that saw the Roadrunners skate with seven total defensemen and 11 forwards.

PHOTO OF THE GAME

Wednesday’s matchup from the Pechanga Arena was the eighth and final meeting of the year between the Roadrunners and San Diego Gulls, as Tucson finished the season series with a 4-2-2-0 record against their I-8 Border Rivals. Forward Mike Carcone finished the eight-game season series against the AHL affiliate of the Anaheim Ducks with five goals and seven assists for 12 total points, leading all other players by at least five points. Carcone recorded three points (1g 2a) in Wednesday’s 6-5 Roadrunners overtime win, which included an assist on defenseman Steven Kampfer’s game winner. The performance represented Carcone’s third consecutive multiple-point outing and 23rd overall on the year, as the 26-year-old is atop the American Hockey League in total scoring with 30 goals and 47 assists for 77 total points.

THEY SAID IT

“The way we played was the brand of hockey we want to play. We had a lot of good scoring opportunities early on, and I was really happy with our resilience. There were some key moments in the game where [goaltender Tyler Parks] had to be really sharp, and he was very valuable [Wednesday] and made key saves at the right time.”

Roadrunners Head Coach Steve Potvin on Wednesday’s 6-5 overtime win against the San Diego Gulls, as well as the performance of Tucson netminder Tyler Parks.

THE RUNDOWN

The Gulls began Wednesday’s matchup with a goal 14 seconds in, scored by San Diego forward Pavol Regenda to take a quick 1-0 lead. San Diego then took the first trip to the power-play shortly after opening the scoring and used it to extend their lead to 2-0 with 25 seconds left on the man-advantage. Tucson answered back just over a minute later, when forwards Adam Cracknell and Mike Carcone combined for a pair of Roadrunners goals in the span of 34 seconds to even the score at 2-2. Cracknell’s goal with 4:18 gone by in the frame marked his 18th time lighting the lamp this season, while Carcone’s score made him the fourth player in the AHL to reach 30 goals on the year with his fifth tally against San Diego. The Gulls went back up by a score of 3-2 with a score just past the midway point of the opening frame, nearly six minutes after Carcone’s equalizer. After a combined four goals in the first 4:52 and five total goals in the opening 10:42 of Wednesday’s contest, the final 9:18 of the first period was without a score to send Tucson to the middle frame trailing San Diego 3-2. Leading by one, the Gulls netted their second power-play goal of the night 4:52 into the second period to push their advantage to 4-2. The Roadrunners kept the home team off of the board for the remainder of the middle period, while scoring another quick pair of goals in the span of 2:53 to erase their second two-goal deficit. Defenseman Devante Stephens brought Tucson to within one with 5:40 left to play in the period with his third goal of the year, as both Cam Hebig and Cam Crotty picked up their eighth assists of the season on the score. Forward Jan Jenik scored the second equalizer and first power-play goal of the evening for Tucson with 2:47 remaining in the middle frame, extending his active scoring streak to five games since December 13 in his second game back after missing 37 consecutive games with an injury. Jenik’s second tally in as many appearances on the road trip evened the score at 4-4 at the end of the second period, marking the third-straight matchup between the Roadrunners and Gulls that was tied entering the final 20 minutes of play. Tucson kept it up in the third period with their second-straight power-play goal 7:57 into the frame, scored by forward Colin Theisen for his fifth goal in the month of March and sixth overall on the season to give the Roadrunners their first lead of the contest. With an assist on Jan Jenik’s score late in the second period, the goal gave Theisen his third multiple-point performance over his last five efforts, while Adam Cracknell and Jenik also earned their second points of the night with assists to add to their earlier goals. San Diego answered back with just under ten minutes to play in regulation, as forward Dylan Sikura evened the score at 5-5 just 2:12 after Theisen’s go-ahead goal. The remaining 9:51 of regulation was without a goal, sending the Roadrunners to overtime for the second-straight outing and for the third-straight time against the Gulls since March 3. San Diego opened the three-on-three overtime period with five of the first six shots, as Tucson goaltender Tyler Parks denied two breakaways for the Gulls. With 1:47 still to play in the frame, Roadrunners defenseman Steven Kampfer took a pass from Jan Jenik and buried the puck for his second goal since joining Tucson on their last road trip to secure a 6-5 overtime victory, their second-straight overtime win and third consecutive comeback win to open the Roadrunners final road trip of the year.

(Photo Credits: San Diego Gulls)