The Tucson Roadrunners arguably outplayed and effectively outscored the visiting Chicago Wolves at Tucson Arena Friday night. Well, except for a brief little span of about two and a half minutes, that is.
Chicago, an offensive juggernaut that rarely relents, scored three first-period goals — including a eye-twitching two goals in eight seconds — to build a hole that was just too deep for the Roadrunners to climb out of.
In the end, Chicago held on, 6-3, to take a 3-0 lead in the season series between two of the American Hockey League’s top teams this year.
Hunter Miska was sturdy in goal for the Roadrunners, stopping 20 of the 22 shots he faced. But that came only after he relieved Calvin Pickard following the Wolves’ three-goal barrage.
Tyler Steenbergen, who scored as the Roadrunners tried to climb back in it in the third period, noted that the three early goals were hardly all on Pickard’s shoulders.
“Obviously those weren’t Picks’ fault. I think that’s on us as a team, as a whole,” Steenbergen said. “We’ve got to be better in front of both of our goalies.”
Tucson coach Jay Varady noted that making the change was more about sparking the rest of the team than a rebuke of Pickard.
“I thought we hung him out to dry, really, on the three goals. He got back-doored, had a breakaway, what, (eight) seconds later, and a tip shot,” he said. “It was a situation as a team where we needed a wake-up call.”
WATCH: Roadrunners react after third loss to Chicago this season
Against the Wolves (22-12-3-1), Miska saw his first game action for the Roadrunners (19-10-3-1) in almost two weeks, after Pickard was sent to Tucson by the Arizona Coyotes for conditioning.
Pickard got his third straight start between the pipes for Tucson. He won his first two outings last weekend, and it’s likely the organization was intent on getting the former NHL regular — Pickard once started 50 games in a season for the Colorado Avalanche — enough work to make the conditioning assignment worthwhile.
That meant, since Pickard is signed to an NHL contract, that over the course of the 14-day window allotted before the Coyotes would have decisions to make about its goaltending stable both in Glendale and Tucson, he could get as many as four starts.
Postgame, Varady said he didn’t know which goaltender would start Saturday, when Chicago goes for the season-series sweep at 7:05 p.m. at Tucson Arena.
Despite falling down a tad further even in the second, at 4-0, Lane Pederson got the Roadrunners on the board first with his team-high 10th goal of the season about four minutes before the second intermission.
That was followed up by a rebound marker from Nick Merkley on a 2-on-1 early in the third period — his fourth of the season — and Steenbergen’s sixth of the year a few minutes later. But a 4-3 deficit was as close as Tucson would get before Chicago stretched the lead again eight minutes into the third period off the stick of Tomas Hyka.
An empty-netter from Hyka would close it out and complete the hat trick (he also scored in the first). Chicago’s Daniel Carr had a goal and two assists, allowing his 44 points (including 19 goals, good for third in the AHL) to leapfrog teammate Brandon Pirri (since called up to the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights) and put him atop the AHL individual point-scoring list.
