The Tucson Roadrunners wasted no time hitting the road for the next three games of their second-round Calder Cup series against Texas.
Less than an hour after losing Game 2 to the Stars on Friday night at Tucson Arena, the Roadrunners were packed for a bus trip to Phoenix late that night. They arrived in Texas by Saturday morning.
Game 3 of the best-of-seven series will be held Monday night at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park.
It’s actually been on the road where the Roadrunners have felt most at home for much of the 2017-18 season.
Tucson won a remarkable 75 percent of its regular-season road games, including a sweep at Texas in early February.
“We’re a good road team so we’ll go out and do what we do,” Roadrunners head coach Mike Van Ryn said after the Game 2 loss. “We’ve played some good games at home lately, and that was kind of our Achilles’ heel, so now we can go where we normally play well.”
Tucson would ideally like to finish off the series in Texas by winning three straight.
The first games of the series, however, suggest a tight week ahead.
After winning Game 1 of the series 2-1, the Roadrunners dropped Game 2 by a 4-1 score that doesn’t reveal the competitiveness of the performance.
The Roadrunners faced a 2-0 deficit after the first period, held off Texas through a number of penalty kills in the second period, and got off 19 shots in the third period to nearly come back and force overtime.
Tucson forward Lane Pederson criticized the team’s discipline in Game 2 for giving Texas too much possession of the puck until the game’s late going.
“You give them back-to-back 5-on-3s in the second period there and just little breakdowns in front of our net, if they have a chance they’ll put them in,” Pederson said.
Tucson goalie Adin Hill gave up two first-period goals in Game 2, with the other scores coming on empty-netters in the final minutes.
Hill is expected to start again Monday, but Tucson could go with Hunter Miska, who has yet to see playing time in the postseason.
Van Ryn placed the greatest appraisal from Game 2 on the team’s aggressiveness offensively.
“I’d still like to see us to get the net for a few more second and third opportunities,” Van Ryn said. “We’ve just got to be a little more determined.
“In the third there (in Game 2) we had a lot of chances from inside home plate, and that’s what we’ve got to focus on is just being determined and winning more battles.
“When you win your battles, you’ll get good chances.”
