This year’s Tucson Roadrunners have certainly shown a flair for the dramatic.
Seven games in, Tucson has the American Hockey League’s fifth-best overall record.
Five of those seven games have been decided by a single goal. And three of them have ended in overtime — all victories by the Roadrunners (5-2-0-0).
That included Friday’s dramatic 4-3 outcome over the Colorado Eagles; Tucson trailed 3-1 to with two minutes to play before tying the score with 14 seconds left in regulation. The game went to an extra period, and Tucson won it off the sick of forward Kevin Roy, who scored with just 14 seconds left.
“I think it just shows the character of our team, how we’ve been able to close out tight games and even come back like that,” said defenseman Kyle Capobianco, who scored with two minutes to go to get the rally moving. “I think it also shows how good the league is.”
Roadrunners alumni square off in goal at NHL level
They were competitors, and roommates, and, through the Roadrunners’ four-plus seasons of hockey, they’re the two most prolific goaltenders in club history.
Last Friday, though, former teammates and self-described best friends Adin Hill and Hunter Miska took the ice as opponents at the NHL level.
Hill’s Arizona Coyotes squared off against Miska’s Colorado Avalanche.
During Tucson’s second and third seasons in Tucson, Miska, 25, and Hill, 24, combined to appear in 133 games as Roadrunners’ teammates. Hill is now at the NHL full-time with the Coyotes after signing a one-way contract this offseason, while Miska has been up and down in the Avalanche organization the past two seasons after his time with the Roadrunners was done.
“It feels great, obviously against an organization I was with, and especially against my old goalie partner, too,” Miska said postgame to assembled media on a video call following a 3-2 Avalanche win over Hill’s Coyotes.
“It was a good goalie battle.”
Miska’s first career NHL victory turned out to be the first start of the season for Hill, who appeared in 15 games for the Coyotes last year.
Two nights earlier, Miska was in goal for the AHL’s Eagles as they handed the Roadrunners their first loss of the year. That same night, Hill was seeing his first live game action of the season for the Coyotes after he was inserted with less than a period to play in what looked like a lost cause.
Hill didn’t allow a goal that night, stopped 14 shots in the third period and overtime — and the Coyotes fought back from a three-goal deficit to win in the extra frame.
“It can be difficult, but honestly the guys stepped up,” Hill told postgame to Phoenix-area media, when asked about his first action of the season coming after being inserted mid-game.
“As soon as I went in there, we turned the game around and the guys did a great job in front of me.”
See you soon?
The Roadrunners officially open the home part of their schedule Wednesday night against the Texas Stars (4-3-0-0), but they’ll do it in front of a near-empty Tucson Arena.
A pair of 7 p.m. starts Friday and Saturday will also be without spectators present, but the Roadrunners’ front office hopes that will change soon.
“We have presented to Pima County a plan that puts the health and safety of fans, players and staff first and foremost. We are anxious to keep working with them to continue this process,” Roadrunners president Bob Hoffman said in a statement released by the team this week.
“We will let our season ticket members know as soon as possible when we are able to welcome them and other fans back to Tucson Arena for Roadrunners hockey.
No official timetable has been given as to when approval might happen.
Once it does, though, Roadrunners fans can expect seating to be laid out in pods to maximize social distancing.
They’ll have designated entry and exit points.
“Our hope is that day is approaching quickly,” Hoffman added.
