Tucson Roadrunners Road Ahead: Home With Henderson

Tucson Roadrunners Road Ahead: Home With Henderson

Upcoming Games (All times MST)

Saturday, February 19: Henderson at Tucson, 7:00 p.m.

Sunday, February 20: Henderson at Tucson, 4:00 p.m.

Who’s On The Schedule

The Roadrunners return home for back-to-back weekends at the Tucson Arena after completing a stretch of 12 of their last 15 games on road. In fact, entering Saturday, the Roadrunners have played only three home games in the last 39 days. They’ll host the Henderson Silver Knights for a two-game set beginning Saturday, February 19, followed by a pair of games against the Ontario Reign the following weekend. Each weekend will be filled with special events, beginning with Kids Weekend at the Tucson Arena Saturday, February 19 and Sunday, February 20. The first 1,500 kids to enter the arena on Saturday, February 19 against the Henderson Silver Knights will receive a free Youth Kachina Jersey courtesy of DentalPros. Tucson’s 4:00 p.m. MST face-off the following afternoon will be free for all kids 12 and under with a paying adult, along with free Kids Educational Workbooks and $6 Kids Meals. The next weekend, Tucson will host the Ontario Reign for a pair of games as part of Cancer Awareness Weekend Saturday, February 26 and Sunday, February 27. The Roadrunners will wear their specialty Cancer Awareness Jerseys for both matchups, with $2 Pink the Rink Lemonade available for purchase. For more information on both weekends at the Tucson Arena and to purchase tickets, click HERE.

Road Trip Takeaways

Tucson comes away from their most recent road trip with a pair of wins over Pacific Division Rivals. The first was on Saturday, February 5 over the San Diego Gulls and the other came on February 11 against the Colorado Eagles. Each win had the Roadrunners record a three-goal period and a trio of multiple-point performances by Mike Carcone, Cam Dineen and Matias Maccelli. Tucson completed their season series with the Abbotsford Canucks during the six-game stretch, solidifying a 2-2 record against the Canucks in their inaugural campaign. The Roadrunners also remained even on the season against the San Diego Gulls and won’t face them or the Colorado Eagles again until the final month of the season.

Piling On The Points

The Roadrunners had 11 multiple-point performances across the six-game road trip. Leading the way was rookie Matias Maccelli with four such outings, three of which were performances of three points or more. Cam Dineen and Mike Carcone were right behind Maccelli as each produced three multi-point efforts, including Carcone’s third AHL hat trick. The final multi-point night belonged to Travis Barron against the Abbotsford Canucks on February 7, his second of the season. Among Maccelli’s high-scoring performances were two outings of three assists or more, helping propel the 21-year-old to second in the AHL for total assists with 37.

Three Goals In A Period Three Times

Tucson produced three periods with three goals scored on their six-game road trip, recording one against each team they faced on the trip. The first was on February 5 against the San Diego Gulls in the second period and included Mike Carcone completing his third AHL hat trick. The next came two days later against the Abbotsford Canucks, with two of the goals scored while on the man-advantage in the third period. The final three-goal frame was achieved in the opening period against the Colorado Eagles on Friday, February 11, as two of the goals were once again scored on the power-play.

Taking Notice Of Tendeck

Goaltender David Tendeck made his American Hockey League debut midway through the road trip for Tucson and started the final two games in Colorado. Tendeck earned his first AHL win in his first career start on February 11 against the Eagles, stopping the first 24 shots faced in a 27-save effort. The 22-year-old held his opponents scoreless for the first 92:30 of his AHL career, the longest stretch to start a career in Roadrunners history. Tendeck was drafted by the Arizona Coyotes in the sixth round of the 2018 NHL Draft, alongside fellow Tucson goaltender Ivan Prosvetov and notable skaters: Barrett Hayton, Jan Jenik, Ty Emberson and Liam Kirk.

Dineen Leads The Way For Defense

Since his return to the Roadrunners roster on January 26, Cam Dineen leads all Tucson defensemen in assists (8) and multiple-point performances (3). Dineen notched the first two three-point performances of his AHL career in back-to-back contests against the San Diego Gulls and Abbotsford Canucks on February 5 and 7. The 23-year-old has ten points (2g 8a) in eight outings since returning to Tucson after a 14-game stint with the Arizona Coyotes earlier this season.

Ivan Back In Tucson

Goaltender Ivan Prosvetov has returned to the Roadrunners roster after being recalled from Tucson on February 8. With the Roadrunners nearby in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Prosvetov made the quick trip to Vancouver to join the parent club for a game against the NHL’s Canucks that night. In total, he dressed in three games for the Arizona Coyotes in the last week; including a 5-2 win over the Seattle Kraken on February 9.

Remember Us?

Tucson forward Travis Barron opened the scoring in Friday’s 3-1 victory over his former team, the Colorado Eagles. With the goal, Barron became the fourth Roadrunner to light the lamp against their former team this season, joining Boko Imama, Cole Hults and Cameron Hebig. Imama and Hults each scored in victories against the Ontario Reign after being acquired from Ontario in an offseason trade. Hebig posted five points and a pair of goals in Tucson’s most recent home series with the Bakersfield Condors, the team he spent the first two seasons of his AHL career with.

Did You Know?

The Roadrunners have had four players reach double-digit goals and assists on the season through 40 games. The latest to accomplish the feat was Cameron Hebig with his tenth assist in the final game of Tucson’s latest road trip, joining Matias Maccelli (11g 37a), Michael Carcone (17g 12a) and Jan Jenik (11g 14a). Hebig is a goal away from matching his career-high of 11 in a season and is on pace to set a new career-best for points in a season with 30. The 25-year-old currently sits at 20 points with more than a third of the schedule remaining.

On The Air

The Tucson Roadrunners Happy Hour with Adrian Denny and Brett Fera goes live every Tuesday from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Fox Sports 1450 AM and the iHeartRadio app. This week will feature a special guest in Roadrunners President Bob Hoffman. In addition to Roadrunners Happy Hour, the Tucson Roadrunners Insider Podcast is available every Sunday, where Adrian Denny and Jimmy Peebles talk most things Tucson Roadrunners. This week’s episode features a special guest, Tucson Roadrunners PA Announcer Kim Cota-Robles. The weekly podcast can be found on the iHeartRadio app.

(Photo Credits: Kate Dibildox/Chris Hook)