The Tucson Roadrunners really like to play fast.
Coach Mike Van Ryn brought an up-tempo style of hockey that gives Tucson advantages on both defense and offense when itβs run well.
Tucson is riding its aggressive philosophy into Game 2 of its Calder Cup second round series against the Texas Stars on Friday night.
A Tucson win would give the Roadrunners a decisive 2-0 series lead, as well as a fourth straight victory at a building that was not kind to the home team during the regular season.
Tucson won Game 1 of the series 2-1 in overtime Wednesday night by employing the type of defense-to-offense precision that the Roadrunners have strived for all year.
Michael Buntingβs game-winner was set up by a defensive stand where Tucson freed up a puck deep in its own territory and fed it to Bunting on the wing. Bunting skated up the left side of the rink before netting the goal.
Tucsonβs defense has been the catalyst for its offense over the last three playoff games. During that span, the Roadrunners outscored their opponents by an 11-1 margin.
βCertainly we press an offensive game, but it starts in the defensive zone breaking pucks out and getting pucks up the ice and itβs been successful,β defenseman Dakota Mermis said. β(Speed) is just a mindset, a mentality, and as fast as the game is you have to be able to play quick and you have to be able to get pucks up the ice quickly.β
The Roadrunners displayed some of their best defense on a night when the Stars were held to just 24 shots.
It took until the 3:35 mark of the third period for Texas to find the back of the net, and it came off a power play.
βI thought we started pretty well, sort of overwhelming them with our speed,β defenseman Joel Hanley said. βEveryone is playing well defensively. Thatβs just blocking shots, breaking pucks out well, being hard in front of the net, making sure they donβt get second chances.β
The Roadrunners mostly stuck to their gameplan, with the exception of a second-period stretch where the Stars found cracks in Tucsonβs stance.
βTheyβre a good transition team so it gave them the opportunity to transition against us, and weβre more tired because weβre playing in our end more,β forward Carter Camper said.
Of course, it helps to have a goalie like Adin Hill.
Hill went nearly 180 consecutive minutes of game time before giving up the late third period score Wednesday. Hillβs stoppage rate at goalie gives confidence to his defensemen.
βYou feel more comfortable making plays,β Mermis said. βIf something were to happen, youβre going to get bailed out, and thatβs huge for us.β
The Roadrunners aim for a similar approach to Game 2.
Tucsonβs home-ice advantage has worked to its intentions, with the team riding a three-game home winning streak.
βIn the playoffs, the white-out has been great and weβre kind of feeding off the crowd,β Hanley said.
βItβs almost like a sixth man out there at times. Whenever you have a crowd like that, it pumps you up and youβre ready to play.β
