Roadrunners Recap: Tucson (4) at Iowa (1): 12/7/2019
Game #23: Tucson (4) at Iowa (1)
SOG: TUC (22) – IA (27)
PP: TUC (1/4) – IA (0/2)
IA SCORING: Mayhew (14sh)
TUC SCORING: Capobianco (3), Martin (7, 8), Burke (9pp)
HOT START USHERS ROADRUNNERS TO WIN IN IOWA
Armed with a three-goal first period the Roadrunners picked up a 4-1 victory Saturday night over the Iowa Wild.
Establishing a controlling presence in the opening minutes, it was only six minutes into the contest when Kyle Capobianco gave Tucson their first advantage. After receiving a pass to the point from Andy Miele, the third-year Roadrunner made three Iowa defenders miss with an outstanding toe drag before beating Mat Robson to make it 1-0.
76 seconds after Capobianco’s dazzling move, a forced turnover by Jeremy Gregoire allowed Kevin Hancock to setup Jon Martin for his first of the evening, giving the Roadrunners a lead of a pair.
To conclude the first, Brayden Burke extended his league-lead in power play goals to nine following a seeing-eye feed from Nick Merkley. In an impressive display, all five Roadrunners touched the puck within just seven seconds before the team moved their lead to 3-0.
Tucson’s lead moved to four to start the second period with Jon Martin’s second of the night and eighth on the year. The 24-year-old power forward batted home another in front of the net, concluding his team’s scoring for the night and putting the Roadrunners in cruise control for the duration of regulation.
The only shot of the evening to beat Ivan Prosvetov was a shorthanded breakaway for Iowa late in the second period. Stopping 26 in the win, the native of Moskva, Russia now has earned six wins in seven starts.
Four Roadrunners recorded multiple point nights in the win, including the first of Kevin Hancock’s pro career (two assists).
THEY SAID IT
“We knew that they had played in Milwaukee last night and they traveled after the game. They’re a good team and we knew we needed to start right off the bat, so that’s what we did.”
Roadrunners forward Jeremy Gregoire shedding light to Iowa’s 7-1 loss Friday night in Milwaukee, which they then followed with a near six-hour bus ride back to their home city for the first time in nearly two weeks. Knowing the Wild arrived back around roughly 5 a.m., the Roadrunners came ready to go from the opening puck drop, knowing it would be a tired opponent.
DON’T OVERLOOK IT
As the season continues to grow elder, more and more of an accurate assessment can be made on the young goaltender Ivan Prosvetov. Now with seven games played at the AHL level and five more in the ECHL, a combined record of 10-2 with an averaged save percentage of just under .940, these numbers will begin to grab some attention both internally and externally.
While just under the league’s current margin of 480 minutes to ranked as “qualified”, if he were eligible, his save percentage would be leading the league and his goals against average (2.13) would rank within the top five.
GOTTA SEE IT
When you’ve got the leader in the American Hockey League in both power play and game-winning goals, you’ve gotta see every one he nets.
Mirroring a Roadrunners power play practice, Beau Bennett ties up his man in the faceoff dot, Tyler Steenbergen pushes it back to the point, Kyle Capobianco slings to the circle for Nick Merkley and a seeing-eye feed to Burke gives him his ninth “PPG” of the season.
PHOTO OF THE GAME
Come on down, Jon Martin! To say “the price has been right” for the first-year Roadrunner would be an understatement.
