Meep meep: Roadrunners' ability to score in bunches has Tucson rolling

The Tucson Roadrunners have proven to be one of the American Hockey League’s most prodigious offensive teams.

When the Roadrunners (11-5-1-1) return to the ice Sunday in Ontario, the season will be a little more than one-quarter gone, and Tucson sits in seventh place (out of 31 teams) in goals scored per game.

For Tucson, however, it’s more about when they put the puck in the net than how often the red light flashes.

The Roadrunners have already shown a penchant for scoring in bunches. Through 18 games, they have managed to score two goals over a barely-more-than-one-minute span on eight occasions. Three times the Roadrunners have managed to score three goals in a span of less than three minutes. When they score in bunches, the Roadrunners win. They’re 6-0-1-1 when they score two goals in a span of 1:10 or less.

“We want to be a quick-strike offense team,” said Conor Garland, who leads the Roadrunners with 17 points and is tied for the team lead with Adam Helewka at seven goals apiece. “Right now they’re coming in bunches. So hopefully we keep that going.”

Garland doesn’t necessarily mean quick-strike from the opening draw, though he’d hardly be opposed to that happening. In this case, he’s referring to the Roadrunners’ apparent ability to perhaps lull opponents into a false sense of security, or pile on when they’re already down.

In most cases, it’s been the latter; Tucson has scored to pad a lead, like when Garland and teammate Matteo Gennaro scored 57 seconds apart near the end of the second period of a late October matchup with the same Ontario Reign team the Roadrunners face three times over these next seven days. In that outing, the score went from a tense 5-3 disparity, to a runaway 7-3 Tucson lead in less than a minute.

It happened again last week, when Tucson turned a 1-0 lead after one period against Bakersfield into a 4-0 advantage less than three minutes into the second.

“I think we’re just hot right now. We just have to ride that wave,” said Michael Bunting, who has potted five goals this season. “Guys are playing really well, buying into the system and getting pucks on the net. That’s how you score in this game. You shoot the puck.”

The quick-strike ability has put the Roadrunners in position to gain an always-vital point or two in the standings.

On Nov. 21, Tucson played host to the Stockton Heat at Tucson Arena for the second of a two-game series and the third time the teams would square off over a five-day span. Stockton won the first two games, including an 8-2 drubbing which was the Roadrunners’ worst lost in nearly two calendar years. In the third matchup, the Heat took a 2-0 lead about eight minutes into the second period, and a bad week looked like it was about to get worse.

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But Tucson’s Laurent Dauphin scored 61 seconds after the second Heat goal. Two-and-a-half minutes and two Garland power-play goals later, Tucson led 3-2. The defense would hold firm for 27 minutes to secure two points for the Roadrunners.

“Sometimes you get scored on and it wakes you up pretty fast,” Garland said.

Tucson head coach Jay Varady can’t exactly put his finger on how it’s happening, but he closely echoed his top scorer’s sentiments.

“I don’t know what it is. I just know that’s it’s something in a game that happens that gains momentum,” he said then. “Teams that score first goals, and teams that score the quickest two goals create momentum.”

Garland said it’s a testament to the Roadrunners’ depth on all forward lines that Tucson can manage this type of output both with a lead and when playing from behind.

“We have so many high-end players who have been pretty good in this league for a while,” he said. “If we get scored on, we have pretty good leadership here, like (captain Dakota Mermis). If he looks down at the bench and lets us know to get it going, I think that sends a message right through everybody.

“We’ve got four lines who can score and if they’re all collecting goals, we’re going to win.”

For the most part, that’s been true.

It didn’t happen that way last time out, though, also against Ontario. Last Sunday, the Roadrunners turned a 3-2 lead into a 6-2 advantage with about 16 minutes to go in the third after one of those three-goals-in-three-minutes spurts. But Ontario would fight back, tying the game and before winning in overtime. Tucson still received a point for the overtime loss.

“Hockey is a funny game. Momentum can switch like that,” Bunting added. “Unfortunately we were on the other side of the momentum on Sunday. That’s a clear example. You know what, you’re never out of a game.”

After playing the Reign on Sunday, Tucson will travel to San Diego for a Wednesday night match against the Gulls. The Roadrunners will return home Friday for a weekend series against Ontario.