The Tucson Roadrunners cruised to a series sweep this week of the defending Calder Cup Champion Chicago Wolves and their highly touted goalie.
The Roadrunners (18-19-4-0) beat the Wolves (14-20-3-1) 5-1 on Tuesday night and 4-1 on Wednesday at home, giving once-struggling Tucson momentum heading into the final weekend of a six-game homestand Friday and Saturday at Tucson Arena against the Abbotsford Canucks.
Eight different Roadrunners scored goals in the two-games against Chicago, and 14 Roadrunners notched at least a point in the series. Right wing Cameron Hebig scored two goals in Tuesday night’s game, while Tucson forward Michael Carcone had a goal Tuesday and a pair of assists Wednesday, giving him at least one point in team-record 12 straight appearances.
“That was our plan from the beginning – to try and get everyone involved and be able to wear teams down,” Tucson head coach Steve Potvin said.
Tucson Roadrunners forward Laurent Dauphin deflects the shot from Michael Carcone to put the Roadrunners up 3-0 in an eventual 4-1 victory on Jan. 25, 2023 at Tucson Arena. Cam Dineen also received an assist on the goal. Over a two-game series Jan. 24-25, Tucson defeated the defending AHL Calder Cup champion wolves by a combined score of 9-2. Video courtesy Tucson Roadrunners.
The Roadrunners scored five on Tuesday against Wolves goalie Pyotr Kochetkov and four Wednesday against Chicago’s Zachary Sawchenko. Tucson forward Adam Cracknell added an empty net goal late on Wednesday to get to the 4-1 scoreline.
Kochetkov was named the NHL's Rookie of the Month for December and is 10-4-0-5 with a .913 save percentage playing for the Carolina Hurricanes this season. He returned to the American Hockey League last week and won his first two starts back with Chicago before running into the Roadrunners.
“That’s a great challenge for us. We’re very aware that he’s played in the NHL and was rookie of the month and he’s got great numbers here in the American league,” Potvin said. “For us to score on a goalie like that gives us a lot of confidence.”
About halfway through the third period of Tuesday’s matchup, forward Laurent Dauphin scored off a long assist from forward Nathan Smith, a few minutes after Kochetkov slashed Smith.
“Well, it felt really good, especially after he whacked my foot like he did,” Smith said.
On Tuesday, after the game was nil-nil until about halfway through and 1-0 Tucson after two periods, the Roadrunners scored four goals in the third period. Tucson goalie Tyler Parks made 27 saves in his second AHL start of the season.
The Tucson Roadrunners' schedule is dotted with matchups featuring top-notch goaltenders, starting with the Chicago Wolves' Pyotr Kochetkov.
“We got some big saves from Parks early on in the game that really gave us some confidence, and it kept going throughout the game,” Potvin said. “I was pleased with the guys’ commitment to each other and how they were persistent in their game.
“They didn’t stop no matter what the score was,” he added. “That was honestly a very well-played group effort.”
While Kochetkov wasn’t in the lineup for Chicago Wednesday, Tucson forward Bokondji Imama, who scored the first of three first period goals for the Roadrunners in the second game, said they tried to get traffic and a lot of movement, this time in front of Sawchenko. It worked, as Imama, Hudson Elynuik and Laurent Dauphin had goals Wednesday before Cracknell’s empty-netter. The night before it was Hebig’s pair, Carcone, Ryan McGregor and Dauphin.
Ivan Prosvetov was in net for the Roadrunners Wednesday, stopping 21 of 22 Chicago shots in, statistically speaking, his best start in more than two months.
Goaltender Tyler Parks' long, winding career has brought him back to Tucson, where he won his first start with the 2022-23 Roadrunners.
Up next for Tucson is a series with the Canucks (23-13-2-2), the AHL affiliate of the Vancouver club with the same name, starting on Saturday at 7 p.m. with Star Wars Night at Tucson Arena. The teams play again Sunday at 4 p.m., with that game televised locally on The CW Tucson (KWBA-TV; channel 8 or 58 on most Southern Arizona cable and satellite providers).
"So far, so good. When you’re coming off two straight wins you feel pretty good about yourself,” Imama said. “But the home stand, we still have some games coming up so we gotta make sure that we close on those ones too.”
Slap shots
- The Roadrunners started their six-game home stand 3-1-0-0. After the Canucks series looms the annual gem show road trip, which will take up much of February. “I think we have to take advantage of our home stand,” Hebig said. “We have the fans on our side and it’s our home ice, we have to make the most of this and get some wins here.”
- In addition to wins in three of Tucson’s last four games, the Roadrunners have won and four of six overall immediately after tying a club-record seven-game losing skid earlier this month.
- Carcone returned from another stint with Arizona on Tuesday to add to his AHL lead in points. Carcone added three – the goal Tuesday and his two assists Wednesday – in the series to add to his league-leading 54 points. He also moved into third in the AHL in goals with 21 with one tally on Tuesday.
