Tucson Roadrunners head coach Jay Varady called it a “letdown” to start the third period.
It was the kind of letdown that, ultimately, let a win walk out the door.
Such was the case Saturday night when the Roadrunners — despite leading 2-0 in the second period and outshooting the visiting Stockton Heat 41-20 for the game — ultimately fell 3-2 to the Heat in front of a Tucson Arena crowd of 5,198.
It was the first time this season Tucson (17-9-3-1) had lost in regulation when leading after two periods.
“They got rolling a little bit. We let them off the hook a little bit to start the third period,” Varady said. “We’ve got to play a little better defense. I think we got wrapped up in our office … they were able to sneak guys behind us and go on two on one and breakaways.”
Leading 2-1 heading into the third period, it took less than 10 seconds for Tucson’s lead to evaporate, and another 2½ minutes for Stockton (14-14-3-0) to take control.
Off the center-ice faceoff to start the final frame, Tucson defenseman Kyle Capobianco slipped out of position as Stockton drove the puck into the Roadrunners’ zone. That’s when Stockton’s Matthew Phillips scored his second of the game at the eight-second mark of the third period.
Not long after, it was Buddy Robinson, with an assist from Phillips and Curtis Lazer who put the Heat up for good.
On the bright side for Tucson, Capobianco assisted on both Roadrunners goals, upping his team-high point total to 25, which is good for third among all American Hockey League defensemen.
Tucson got on the board first when Adam Helewka dropped in a touch pass from Capobianco near the Stockton goal past Heat netminder Tyler Parsons about nine minutes into the first period. Nick Merkley also had an assist on the Helewka goal.
Tucson would add another in the second when Capobianco set up Lane Pedeseron in front of Parsons. Pederson got his own rebound and put the Roadrunners up 2-0 less than seven minutes into the second.
But that was it for the Roadrunners as Parsons stopped 39 of the 41 shots he faced.
“That was a good goalie. He caught some fire. He was feeling good and we just couldn’t put it past him,” Capobianco said.
Added Helewka: “I think we dominated the first two periods. We outshot them almost double. So we can take some positives there. We just have to have a stronger finish.”
Hunter Miska stopped 17 of 20 shots in defeat for Tucson.
The Roadrunners and Heat face off again in the new year, this time Jan. 4 in Stockton.
