The Tucson Roadrunners lost focus for 45 seconds Saturday night. That’s all it took for the Texas Stars to score a pair of second-period goals on the way to a 4-3 victory.
The flurry swung the game’s score and momentum.
“I thought our guys kept trying to fight back,” Roadrunners coach Mike Van Ryn said. “We had 45 bad seconds, and that was the game.
The Roadrunners allowed a franchise-low 10 shots against Texas on Saturday, but the Stars took advantage of their limited chances on goal.
Tucson’s Mike Sislo, who scored the game-winning goal in overtime Friday night, gave the Roadrunners a 1-0 lead just 59 seconds into the game. It was the fastest goal scored by the Roadrunners this season.
The Stars fought back, taking the lead with the two-goal flurry and then expanding it to 3-1 on a goal with six minutes to go in the period.
Tucson gained a goal back in the third period, when Trevor Murphy netted a shot.
Texas expanded the lead to 4-2 on a score six minutes later.
Tucson’s Hunter Miska started in goal but was pulled after allowing a fourth goal on just nine shots. Michael Houser replaced Miska at goalkeeper in his first appearance with the team.
The Roadrunners cut into the Stars’ lead once more on a score by Mario Kempe with 5:23 remaining.
Texas shut out Tucson the rest of the way.
“It happens,” Van Ryn said. “I thought we played a good game but it’s just unfortunate.”
Tucson’s home record dropped to 14-12-2 with the loss. The Roadrunners haven’t won back-to-back home games since November.
“I’ve been challenging our games back to back games here,” Van Ryn said. “We’re trying to fix our home record. We’re playing well but we’re not getting much luck right now.”
Slap shots
- Tucson scratched forward Dylan Strome shortly before Saturday’s game. Strome is expected to be recalled to the Arizona Coyotes on Sunday morning.
- The Roadrunners now hit the road for a three-game trip to California. Tucson faces Bakersfield on Wednesday before traveling to Stockton for a weekend series.
