Game #68: Tucson Roadrunners vs. Colorado Eagles

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Game #68: Tucson Roadrunners (39-23-3-2) vs. Colorado Eagles (37-22-5-2)

Time: Friday, April 12, 7:00 p.m. PST, Tucson Convention Center, Tucson, Arizona

**LISTEN LIVE** HERE

**WATCH LIVE** HERE

Tucson Roadrunners Current Roster: CLICK HERE

Referees: #15 Mike Dietrich, #16 Adam Tobias

Linespersons: #75 Eric Anderson, #48 Jake Herzog

The Tucson Roadrunners are back home for a huge two-game series against the Colorado Eagles; a team Tucson has not seen since December 8th and 9th. That series resulted in a split series between the two teams. Since that series, Tucson has gone 27-16-2-1 in 46 games while Colorado has gone 27-14-2-2 in 45 games. The Roadrunners hold second place in the Pacific Division at 83 points with a tie breaker over the Ontario Reign; just two points over the Colorado Eagles who are fourth in the division. Colorado comes into the series clinging on to the final spot for home ice advantage in the first round of the Calder Cup Playoffs.

Roadrunners Can Clinch Home Ice Advantage For Round One of The Calder Cup Playoffs with The Following:

  1. Roadrunners sweep Colorado in regulation or OT/SO

OR

2. Roadrunners win Friday Night and Abbotsford loses in regulation and Bakersfield loses in regulation/OT

Three things:

  1. The last game these two teams faced on December 9; the Roadrunners overcame a 3-1 third period deficit to win it 4-3 in regulation to split the series. That comeback is one of the nine total the team has this season when facing a multiple goal deficit, Nathan Smith leads the team in points with seven (1 goal, 6 assists). John Leonard is second on the team with six points (2 goals, 4 assists) while Austin Poganski leads with four goals when helping the team make a multiple-goal comeback.
  2. In their sweep against the San Diego Gulls on Saturday, April 6 and Sunday, April 7; the Roadrunners had plenty of help from the new line combination of Austin Poganski, Cameron Hebig and newest member Sam Lipkin. The three combined for four points and two goals out of Tucson’s six goals over the weekend; including Lipkin’s first career assist in his first career AHL game on Saturday. The fellow line combination of Curtis Douglas, Travis Barron and Hunter Drew combined for six points over the weekend; contributing to three of Tucson’s six goals over the two games. In the last four games: Drew (2 goals, 1 assist), Douglas (1 goal, 2 assist and Barron (1 goal, 2 assists) have combined for nine points with Drew and Barron riding two-game point streaks.
  3. The Roadrunners went 6-1-1-0 at the TCC in the month of March; averaging a staggering 4.25 goals per game while allowing 2.50 goals against per game. Aku Raty lead the way with scoring at home in March with 11 points (3 goals, 8 assists); while Justin Kirkland was second with nine points (5 goals, 4 assists) and Steven Kampfer was third with eight points (1 goal, 7 assists). In addition, Nathan Smith (4 goals, 2 assists) and Milos Kelemen (2 goals, 4 assists) had six points at home for the Month of March.

What’s the word?

“Playing on that line with Pogo (Poganski) and Lipper (Lipkin) was fun; Lipper had a lot of energy coming in and Pogo is a solid two-way guy; so I think we have good chemistry and hopefully can keep it going. ”

Tucson forward Cameron Hebig on playing in his new line of Austin Poganski and Sam Lipkin.

Number to Know:

40 – With a win on Friday, the Roadrunners hit win number 40 on the season; something they have accomplished only once in the 2017-18 season with 42 victories. In the 2019-20 season, the Roadrunners were just four wins away from 40 but COVID-19 shut down the season.

Latest Transactions:

  • On Tuesday, April 9, the Arizona Coyotes (NHL) recalled Jan Jenik from the Tucson Roadrunners (AHL).
  • On Wednesday, April 10, the Arizona Coyotes (NHL) reassigned Max Szuber to the Tucson Roadrunners (AHL) and recalled Vladislav Kolyachonok.
  • The Roadrunners have also recalled Reece Vitelli and Micah Miller from the Atlanta Gladiators (ECHL) and Lleyton Moore from the Wichita Thunder (ECHL).

ON THE AIR:

Tonight’s game will be broadcast live on the radio on FOX Sports 1450AM and the iHeartRadio app. Coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. with Roadrunners Warm-Up hosted by Jonathon Schaffer, following with “The Voice of The Roadrunners” Adrian Denny as he brings all the action from the TCC. The game can also be seen on AHLtv.