The Tucson Roadrunners will celebrate President’s Day with an afternoon tilt against Bakersfield on Monday.
Tucson will look to sweep the two-game homestand against the Condors. The puck drops at 4 p.m.
A win would give Tucson its first back-to-back home victories since Nov. 22 and 24.
The Roadrunners should feel good about their chances, given that Bakersfield is without three key players in the midst of a difficult road trip.
However, Bakersfield put up a fight against Tucson in the first meeting Saturday night, which the Roadrunners won 5-4.
The Condors jumped out to a quick 2-0 first-period lead before Tucson battled back to take control.
“All we need is one goal to get the crowd into it and the game changes and the momentum changes,” Roadrunners coach Mike Van Ryn said. “(Then) you’ve got something to build off of.”
Tucson came out of the game unscathed in the standings, but the biggest loss of the night may have been injuries to Roadrunners Kyle Capobianco and Laurent Dauphin.
Capobianco went down in the first period, while Dauphin had to leave the game after taking a big hit in the second.
Van Ryn couldn’t comment at the extent of either injury.
The Roadrunners are already without Nick Merkley, who has not played in seven games as he recovers from an upper body injury.
Dauphin played with the Roadrunners last year, then played for Rockford of the American Hockey League before being traded back to Arizona midway through this season. He and Capobianco are both offensive catalysts.
It would take a lot to knock the Roadrunners off their game. They have won five of seven.
With two-thirds of the regular season in the rear view mirror, it’s clear that the success of the Roadrunners is no fluke.
“A lot of guys are very unselfish,” defenseman Joel Hanley said after his three-assist performance Saturday. “We have a team-first attitude, and Coach is putting a good plan in front of us and we’re buying in.”
The Roadrunners maintained a small edge over San Diego in the AHL’s Pacific Division standings with the win Saturday. Another win would ensure Tucson stays atop the standings heading into this weekend.
Tucson hosts San Antonio, another playoff contender, for a pair of games Friday and Saturday.
“I think we just have a culture of ‘we don’t like losing,’” forward Dylan Strome said. “We expect to win every game. I know it sounds kind of cliché but when you come into a game and you feel like your team is going to win, I think it definitely helps our team’s confidence.”
