Even when the bounces go their way, the Tucson Roadrunners of late still can’t seem to end up on the right side of things.
Despite the kind of “fluky goal” Roadrunners offensive stalwart Michael Bunting predicted for his team just a day earlier, Tucson didn’t have enough to battle back from a 2-0 deficit, falling 3-1 on Friday night to the last-place Ontario Reign.
“It’s just the bounces,” Bunting said after Thursday’s Roadrunners’ practice. “You can get five breakaways and miss all of them, but all of a sudden you shoot from the corner and it goes in. That’s just the way hockey is.”
That’s exactly how it was for the Roadrunners (25-21-5-2) on their lone goal Friday night. Midway through the second period, Roadrunners winger Brayden Burke carried the puck on the power play behind the Ontario net and to the left of Reign goaltender Cal Petersen. Burke flung the puck toward the middle of the ice in front of Peterson’s goal crease and, some ping-pong action later, Burke was credited with a goal and Tucson was on the board.
The goal was Burke’s 10th of the season, with assists from Nick Merkley and Lane Pederson.
“I saw Lane (Pedersen) and tried to get it through,” Burke said. “It kind of bounced up and hit their d-man and luckily went in. So, we’ll take whatever we can get right now, but obviously we’re still looking for the two points (in the standings).”
But the score was still 2-1 in favor of the Reign (20-26-5-2) at that point. Barely a few minutes earlier, Ontario’s Sheldon Rempal and Phillipe Maillet scored a minute and a half apart to jump in front.
Tucson fell even further behind in the race for the fourth and final playoff berth out of the American Hockey League’s Pacific Division. The Colorado Eagles gained two more points — putting them up five now on the Roadrunners — after a 1-0 win over the San Diego Gulls Friday night.
Adin Hill stopped 22 of 25 shots in net for Tucson. It was the 14th time in Hill’s last 15 starts he allowed three or fewer goals. But Ontario’s netminder, Peterson, was every bit superior, turning away 46 of 47 shots, and earning First Star of the Game honors.
The loss was Tucson’s sixth straight overall (0-5-1-0), and seventh straight home defeat at Tucson Arena (0-6-1-0). The Roadrunners have won just twice in their last 15 games (2-10-2-1), and in 10 of those outings have scored once or not at all.
It was also the second time in three games the Roadrunners peppered the opposing goaltender for 45 or more shots but still missed out on the full two points a win would bring (Tucson lost 3-2 in overtime a week earlier at Colorado).
“It’s tough to explain. When you get 47 shots you’re expecting to score more than one goal,” Burke said. “Their goalie played well tonight, but we can’t just keep coming up with excuses on why we’re only getting one goal and two goals a night.”
Forward Hudson Fasching, who was reassigned to the Roadrunners Friday after a brief call-up stint with the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes, had multiple chances to tie it up for Tucson late in the third, but couldn’t connect. Those included a shorthanded breakaway that Petersen stymied, and another race for the puck deep in the Ontario zone. Fasching picked cradled it and crashed hard toward Petersen to the goaltender’s left side, but was denied initially, and again on the rebound.
And without Fasching tying it up, Ontario’s Mike Amadio put the Reign up 3-1 about two minutes later, scoring inside four minutes to play. The Roadrunners would play the final three-plus minutes with the extra attacker after pulling Hill, but couldn’t convert.
“I thought we had some really good looks tonight,” Tucson head coach Jay Varady said. “We’ve just got to keep going to the net. We’ve been talking about it a ton. The traffic. The rebounds. The second chances. That’s where the focus is at.”
Tucson and Ontario face off again at 7:05 p.m. Saturday at Tucson Arena. Saturday marks the seventh of eight meetings between the teams this season.
