The Roadrunners have, perhaps fittingly, saved some of their best hockey for the road.
Tucson won 75 percent of its regular-season road games, a statistic that played into the team’s decision to begin the opening round of the American Hockey League playoffs in San Jose.
The Roadrunners’ success continued Thursday with a 4-2 win over the Barracuda. Another win in Northern California on Saturday night would give Tucson a two-game lead in the best-of-five series, which moves to Tucson on Wednesday.
However, Tucson’s opening win at SAP Center didn’t come easily. The ice at the arena, which also plays host to the NHL’s San Jose Sharks, gave players some difficulty.
“The ice isn’t too good out there. It’s pretty slushy; it’s pretty slow,” said Roadrunners forward Lane Pederson, who scored the game-winning goal. “They know how to play this rink better than us.”
It took Tucson until the third period to find some semblance of an offense. It was a main reason why San Jose outshot Tucson 38-24.
“We had some guys that have been off for a little bit. Not to make excuses, but to me it looked like we were rusty,” Tucson coach Mike Van Ryn said after the game. “The ice was definitely a factor tonight. We’ve just got to be smarter with our management.”
It was Tucson’s Dakota Mermis who provided the opening score of the series, a first-period goal that gave the Roadrunners a temporary advantage. The teams traded scores until Pederson netted a goal with 1:15 remaining.
Dylan Strome’s empty-netter in the final seconds clinched the victory.
Van Ryn was mostly critical of his team’s defensive effort, particularly in the second and third periods.
“They just were shooting a lot from a lot of different areas,” Van Ryn said. “In the second (period), we gave up more Grade-A (shots) than I think we have in a while. Most of them were right in front of our net, so we’ve got to do a better job executing on our end of things.”
Despite the unsteady defense in front of him, Roadrunners goalie Adin Hill strung together another strong performance. Hill saved 36 shots, matching a season high.
“I thought they came out flying,” Hill said. “We knew they were going to have a strong game and come out with a push.”
Hill is riding one of his best professional streaks as a Roadrunner. The 21-year old ended the regular season allowing just two goals over a span of 2 hours 7 minutes 39 seconds.
Hill’s celebrated play with Tucson has come after he earned his first NHL victory with the Arizona Coyotes last month against the Los Angeles Kings.
Van Ryn did not directly say whether Hill would start again Saturday but praised his goalie’s consistency.
“He played outstanding for us,” Van Ryn said. “You need good goaltending in playoffs. Hill has been real sharp for us lately, and I think the last half of the year he’s really finding his way.”
Tucson’s other option at goalie is rookie Hunter Miska. Miska has started only two games this month, including the regular-season finale in which he allowed three goals.
Pederson said his team would go back to the drawing board to muster a better offensive attack.
“They get pucks out, they keep it moving, they got us chasing it,” Pederson said. “We’ve just got to stick to our game plan, and we’ll be fine.”
Pederson also credited the team’s slow start to postseason jitters.
The Roadrunners have one of the younger teams in the playoffs.
“As the game moved on, everyone was like, ‘it’s just another hockey game, right?’ ” Pederson said.
“The stakes are higher, but that’s what we live for.”
