Tucson Roadrunners Road Ahead: Medieval Battles

Roadrunners record through Ten games (5-5-0-0),7th in the Pacific Division

Upcoming Games (All Times MST)

Wednesday, November 13, 8:00 p.m. @ Ontario Reign

Friday, November 15, 8:00 p.m. @ Henderson Silver Knights

Saturday, November 16, 7:00 p.m. @ Henderson Silver Knights

Charging the Castles

The Roadrunners begin their longest road trip yet of the early season with a single-game match against the Ontario Reign on Wednesday and a two-game series versus the Henderson Silver Knights on Friday and Saturday. Roadrunners also continue their five-game stretch against the bottom three teams in the AHL’s Pacific Division: recently splitting their two-game series against the San Diego Gulls who are ninth in the division. Ontario currently stands at eighth in the Pacific at 4-6-0-0 and Henderson is dead last in 10th at 3-8-0-0. Last season, the Roadrunners went an even 4-4-0-0 versus the Reign: including 2-2-0-0 at Toyota Arena. They fared much better against the Silver Knights: enforcing a 5-1-1-1 record and a 2-0-1-1 record at the now named Lee’s Family Forum. Forward Josh Doan led Tucson scoring last season against the Los Angeles Kings affiliate with four goals and four assists for eight points. Forward Aku Raty and Defenseman Maksymilian Szuber led the scoring for Roadrunner players on the current roster versus the Silver Knights: with Raty notching one goal and six assists for seven points and Szuber tallying three goals and four assists for seven points. Former Roadrunner Jan Jenik (currently with the Belleville Senators) led all scoring with five goals and three assists for eight points versus the Vegas Golden Knights affiliate.

First 10:

The Roadrunners concluded its first 10-game stretch of the season with a record of 5-5-0-0: which puts the team at seventh in the Pacific Division and 10th in the Western Conference. However, spots two-through-seven of the Division are only separated by four points: with the San Jose Barracuda holding second place with 14 points at 7-4-0-0. Despite the five losses within the first 10 games of the season, Tucson has only been outscored 20-10 in its five losses this year: with four of the five losses coming within two goals or fewer. Since starting 1-3-0-0, the Roadrunners have gone 4-2-0-0 in the last six games: outscoring opponents 20-16 in that stretch and averaging 3.33 goals for per game. Roadrunners Forward Egor Sokolov has led the charge with 14 points (8 goals, 6 assists) in 10 games so far this season: acquiring a point in nine of 10 games played. The only game Sokolov has not scored a point was Tucson’s 3-0 loss to the Abbotsford Canucks on October 29. Sokolov enters the week tied for third in goals and total points: just three points behind the league leading point getter, Milwaukee Admirals Forward Vinnie Hinostroza. Sokolov’s 14 points in 10 games start is the best by a Roadrunner since Michael Carcone had 14 points in the first 10 games of the year with four goals and 10 assists. Carcone ended that 2022-23 year as the AHL’s leading scorer with 85 points: which is also the most ever by a Roadrunner in a single season including his 31 goals. Overall, Dylan Strome holds the best 10-game start for a Roadrunner season: scoring three goals and 12 assists for 15 points in 2017-18.

Rookies off and Running:

Roadrunners rookies: including Julian Lutz (4 assists), Maveric Lamoureaux (1 goal, 3 assists), Artem Duda (1 goal, 2 assists), Sam Lipkin (2 goals) Lleyton Moore (1 assist) and Miko Matikka (1 assist), have combined for 15 points to start the season. In the last three games, Lipkin and Duda have combined for three first-career goals: with Lipkin scoring two in his last three games and Duda scoring his first as part of Tucson’s 5-2 victory over the Gulls on Saturday, November 9. Lutz leads Roadrunner rookies on the current roster with four points in 10 games: while Maveric Lamoureaux, who was recalled to the Utah Hockey Club on October 23, has notched four points in three games played with Tucson this season.

On The Road In November:

Last season, after a 3-3-0-0 in October, the Roadrunners went on to snatch points in nine of the next 12 games in November: including winning seven of the nine games. Tucson had a 5-2-1-0 record on the road in November: with a 2-1-0-0 road trip from November 8 to November 12 and a 3-1-1-0 trip from November 21 to November 28. The Roadrunners now look to duplicate the successful month of thanksgiving from last season.

We Are Live:
Tucson Roadrunners Happy Hour airs every Tuesday at 5 p.m. on FOX Sports 1450AM and the iHeartRadio app, with a podcast version also available after each episode on the iHeartRadio app and Apple Podcast. This week, “Voice of the Roadrunners” Jonathon Schaffer and Co-Host Kim Cota-Robles are joined by Roadrunners Arena Host BEEF. Listen to this week’s show HERE and the podcast version after HERE.