The Tucson Roadrunners scored first, their power play stayed productive, and one of the club’s most veteran defensemen marked his first game in Southern Arizona in months with a second-period goal.
Yet, the end result was the same as it’s been for the better part of the last three weeks: a Roadrunners loss.
The Bakersfield Condors erased an early Tucson lead with four goals in a span of 9 minutes en route to a 6-2 win over the Roadrunners on Wednesday night at Tucson Arena.
Tucson, which has lost six consecutive games and nine of its last 10 outings, gets a day of practice in Thursday before a double-shot at revenge. The Roadrunners (12-17-2-1) play host to the Condors (15-9-3-3) both Friday and Saturday. It's the first time since this season, the Roadrunners will play consecutive home games against the same team.
“I think they're a good team. You want to play good opponents. They're well-coached, they play hard. It's a good challenge for us,” Tucson coach Jay Varady said. “Every day when you come to the rink, you need a challenge. And we have one.”
Varady likened the Roadrunners’ current skid to one of “those tough parts in the season” most teams face at some point.
“That’s why it’s a tough game,” he said. “We’ve got to be ready for the next day. We have to come back in here with the right mindset and the right attitude. We’ve got to get better.”
After Tucson forward Michael Carcone’s 10th goal of the season gave the Roadrunners a 1-0 lead midway through the first, the Condors answered in droves. From roughly four minutes to go in the opening frame to about five minutes into the second period, Condors Devin Brousseau, Seth Griffith, Dino Kambeitz and Brousseau again blew the game open.
Tucson defenseman Cam Dineen scored on the power play in the second period to cut the deficit to two, but Bakersfield’s Markus Niemelainan took it back in the third period, before Griffth’s empty net goal with nearly five minutes to play capped the scoring.
Dineen, a veteran of 141 American Hockey League games in his familiar red Roadrunners’ No. 4 sweater, scored in his first game in Tucson since late October, when he was called up to the NHL's Coyotes. He dressed 14 times in three months, carding four assists for the Roadrunners’ parent club, prior to being reassigned to Tucson this week.
“Obviously I want to be up (in Glendale). But, at the same time, it's pretty nice to be back. I have a lot of good friends here. Made a lot of good relationships with the coaches and everything,” Dineen said. “I wish it could have been a little different of an outcome out there. I wish I could have helped a bit more. But I think this group, they know what to do. They work really hard.
“As long as I’m here, I’m going to keep trying to contribute,” he added.
Dineen’s power play goal makes Tucson 8 for 28 with the man advantage dating back the two weeks.
For the second time in his last five starts, Tucson starting goaltender Ivan Prosvetov was pulled after giving up four goals through barely half the game. Prosvetov stopped only six of Bakersfield’s 10 shots on goal, before Josef Kořenář replaced him, making 16 saves on 17 shots. Bakersfield goaltender Olivier Rodrigue turned away 21 of 23 from the Roadrunners.
Wednesday marked the Roadrunners’ first home game in close to three weeks. The Roadrunners are in the middle of a stretch that includes 12 of 15 games away from Southern Arizona.
“Anytime you play three in a row, it's a great challenge as far as a bit of a mini-playoff series. So we get to see what we’re about,” Tucson forward Terry Broadhurst said. “Skate tomorrow, right back on Friday. So you got to have a short memory.”
