The Tucson Roadrunners are finding success late — and often.
Tucson won its third straight overtime game on Friday night, a 2-1 overtime victory over the Chicago Wolves. Dakota Mermis netted a goal with seven seconds to go in extra time to clinch the win.
“I knew there wasn’t a lot of time left so I just saw an opening and tried to take it,” Mermis said. “Sislo made a good pull-up play and it opened up a little bit of room.”
With the win, Tucson moves to 23-12-2-1 on the year, which is the top record in the American Hockey League’s Pacific Division. Friday marked Tucson’s third straight game to go to overtime. All three were 1-1 after regulation.
“That’s hockey,” goalie Hunter Miska said. “The game’s being played and only one goal is scored in regulation there.”
Indeed, it took the Roadrunners 57 minutes to score their first goal, a score by Lawson Crouse to tie the game late in the third period.
Chicago had scored the game’s first goal about midway through the period. With Tucson in desperation mode, Crouse found an opening and capitalized.
“In the last five minutes, you’re doing whatever you can,” Crouse said. “It was actually a really nice play. It kicked out to Dylan Strome, down to Mario Kempe, and Kempe made a great pass to me.”
The Roadrunners and Wolves battled in a physical if sluggish affair with few offensive opportunities for most of the night.
Tucson kicked into another gear, however, when Chicago took its lead. Crouse credited his teammates for staying resilient late in the game.
“I think it just speaks to the character in our locker room,” Crouse said. “There were a lot of opportunities for us to get frustrated but I think we did a good job with our composure and obviously battled right to the end.”
Miska put together a strong effort at goalie, saving 21 of 22 shots. With the win, Miska moves to 13-3-0 this year guarding the net. He’s also 5-0 in overtime games.
“They were in our end a little bit,” Miska said. “They missed the net a few times which kept me busy and I had room to help get the puck up a little more quick.”
The Roadrunners have won two of three games against the Wolves this season. They'll go for the season series win Saturday.
