For the second time in two weeks, the Tucson Roadrunners followed up an electric series-opening win by falling somewhat flat the next day.
The Roadrunners lost 6-2 Sunday to the Texas Stars in a matchup coming just 19 hours after the completion of a rousing 4-0 win the night before in their home opener at Tucson Arena.
“You know that’s the second time that happened to us – that we couldn’t make it back-to-back,” second-year Roadrunner forward Jan Jenik said Sunday, referencing not only this two-game-set but his team winning a 1-0 overtime battle to start the season a week ago in Stockton, only to fall 3-2 the next night. “That’s something we have to think about and work at as a team.”
After the Stars (2-2-0-0) jumped ahead 2-0 on a pair of first-period goals from Curtis McKenzie and Joel L’Esperance, Jenik deposited his first of the year, unassisted, barely two minutes into the second period to start the comeback for the Roadrunners (2-2-0-0). Defenseman JJ Moser followed that up 2:30 later with his first career AHL goal, assisted by Hudson Fasching, to tie the game at 2.
Tucson head coach Jay Varady said postgame that despite breakdowns in a number of areas, he “liked the pushback. I like that we got it to 2-2.
“From that point, again, I think we got loose. We have to tighten up. If you go to 2-2 and you tighten up and you push that game further along, maybe we can make something happen in the third.”
But the Stars would counter barely four minutes after Tucson tied it, scoring another two goals off the sticks of Fredrik Karlstrom and L’Esperance 1:31 apart to lead 4-2. Texas would never look back, adding two empty-net goals from Josh Melnick and Riley Tufte in the game’s waning minutes.
“Understanding how to play back-to-back games for an entire group, that’s something we have to do. That’s part of growing up,” Varady said. “You have to come to the rink no matter 4 p.m., 7 p.m., whatever it is, and be ready to compete.”
Tucson goaltender Ivan Prosvetov had his shutout streak spanning more than 130 minutes to start the season snapped on McKenzie’s first-period goal. At that point, Prosvetov had stopped 54 consecutive shots, including shutouts of 1-0 over the Stockton Heat and 4-0 over Texas on Saturday night. Sunday, however, Prosvetov stopped just 22 of 26 shots in defeat.
Varady wouldn’t pin the loss on his goaltender’s shoulders, though.
“Team game. I think we need to be better as a group, with him and in front of him,” Varady said.
Jenik’s goal gives the just-turned 21-year-old Czech Republic native 13 points, on eight goals and five assists, spanning his last 13 professional hockey games played. That includes a goal and an assist through four games this season, a goal in the Roadrunners’ lone playoff game last spring, two goals in two games with the Arizona Coyotes in a late-season NHL call-up last season, and four goals and four assists in the Roadunners' last six games of their 2020-21 season.
“I just feel like we played a little softer today,” Jenik said. “(Saturday) we worked so hard and left everything out there, and I think that’s a little bit of what we were missing (Sunday).”
The Roadrunners will practice at Tucson Arena this week ahead of another two home games next Friday and Saturday. The San Diego Gulls (0-3-0-0) head to Southern Arizona to continue the teams’ “Interstate 8 Border Rivalry.” Both games are at 7 p.m.
