The Tucson Roadrunners took a loss at the hands of the San Jose Barracuda for the second consecutive night with a 5-2 defeat at Tucson Arena on Wednesday. Tucson has dropped three straight games since topping the Barracuda in San Jose last week.
Goalie Adin Hill got the start in net for Tucson and struggled out of the gate, allowing the first score on a power play midway through the first and another goal less than a minute later. Roadrunners coach Mike Van Ryn had seen enough after falling into a 3-0 hole just minutes through the second period, and inserted rookie Hunter Miska in net.
Hill saw nine shot attempts in the first 24 minutes of action and saved six of them.
Roadrunner Mario Kempe set up Michael Bunting for Tucson's first score of the night with a little more than 10 minutes remaining in the second. Bunting’s seventh score of the season made it six straight games with a point. Trevor Cheek followed with a shorthanded, backdoor goal for his fourth point in four games this month, and cut the Roadrunners’ deficit to 4-2 entering the third period.
San Jose’s early barrage proved too difficult for Tucson to overcome, and the Barracuda even added on for good measure with a Brandon Bollig score almost 18 minutes into the final period.
Miska saw 11 shot attempts and saved 10 of them after replacing Hill in the second period. John McCarthy scored a goal and contributed an assist for the Barracuda, while Rudolfs Balcers was active with two assists for San Jose.
With another loss to the Barracuda, the Roadrunners fell to 12-7-2 on the year. Tucson now travels to Ontario for a quick, one-game affair Saturday with the Reign, before returning home next Friday for a two-game series with the Stockton Heat.
