The red-hot Tucson Roadrunners (17-8-1-1) won yet again Saturday, this time a 4-3 win over the San Diego Gulls (8-13-5-0) late Saturday, sending the Roadrunners’ roster across North America for the holiday break as clearly the American Hockey League’s hottest team.
A pair of goals from Jan Jenik and one each from Aku Raty and John Leonard were enough to stave off the Gulls and send Tucson into the holiday a perfect three-for-three on the road this past week; Saturday’s win followed up a 4-3 victory at Bakersfield Friday and an 8-6 win at San Jose Wednesday.
Raty finished the week with four goals and five points — his goal Friday bookending his hat trick-laden, four-point night Wednesday against the Barracuda.
“It’s not easy going into three different cities and winning three different games, so props to everyone in that room,” Roadrunners leading goal scorer Josh Doan said Saturday. “We won it three different ways. That’s always something you want to do is show you can win in many different ways.”
Doan won it for Tucson Friday night in overtime, while the Roadrunners built a 3-1 third-period lead Saturday before holding on for that win. On Wednesday, Tucson won a back-and-forth 14-goal shootout to kick open the road trip.
The Roadrunners are now 7-2-0-0 in the month of December and 10-3-1-0 in their last 14 games — a stretch that’s seen Tucson skyrocket up the standings into second place in the AHL’s vaunted Pacific Division.
Entering the weekend, the Roadrunners and their NHL affiliate and parent-organization, the Arizona Coyotes, were among the top NHL/AHL pairings across the continent — tied for ninth among the 31 official NHL/AHL affiliations this season. The Coyotes (17-14-2) were riding their own four-game win streak before falling 4-1 Saturday at the Colorado Avalanche.
The Roadrunners, with the AHL’s sixth-best overall record to date, trails only the Calgary Wranglers (19-7-1-0) by two points for first place in the Pacific as they return home next Friday and Saturday for a pair of 7 p.m. matchups to close out 2023. It’s the Coachella Valley Firebirds (14-9-2-0) at Tucson Arena Friday and the last-place Gulls in Southern Arizona Saturday night.
Tucson Roadrunners forward Jan Jenik scores the first of his two goals during the Roadrunners’ 4-3 road win over the San Diego Gulls on Dec. 23, 2023. Tucson swept it’s three-game road trip through California, defeating San Jose, Bakersfield and San Diego over a four-night span. (Courtesy Tucson Roadrunners)
Tucson Roadrunners forward Jan Jenik scores the second of his two goals during the Roadrunners’ 4-3 road win over the San Diego Gulls on Dec. 23, 2023. Tucson swept it’s three-game road trip through California, defeating San Jose, Bakersfield and San Diego over a four-night span. (Courtesy Tucson Roadrunners)
Tucson Roadrunners forward John Leonard scores during the Roadrunners 4-3 road win over the San Diego Gulls on Dec. 23, 2023. Tucson swept it’s three-game road trip through California, defeating San Jose, Bakersfield and San Diego over a four-night span. (Courtesy Tucson Roadrunners)
Tucson Roadrunners forward Aku Raty scores during the Roadrunners’ 4-3 road win over the San Diego Gulls on Dec. 23, 2023. Tucson swept it’s three-game road trip through California, defeating San Jose, Bakersfield and San Diego over a four-night span. (Courtesy Tucson Roadrunners)
Tucson Roadrunners forward Travis Barron and San Diego Gulls forward Glenn Gawdin duke it out in the second period of Tucson’s eventual 4-3 win over the Gulls on Dec. 23, 2023 in San Diego. Tucson swept it’s three-game road trip through California, defeating San Jose, Bakersfield and San Diego over a four-night span. (Courtesy Tucson Roadrunners)
Tucson Roadrunners forward Josh Doan scores in overtime to give the Roadrunners’ a 4-3 road win over the Bakersfield Condors on Dec. 22, 2023. Tucson swept it’s three-game road trip through California, defeating San Jose, Bakersfield and San Diego over a four-night span. (Courtesy Tucson Roadrunners)
Tucson Roadrunners forward Dylan Guenther scores the first of his two goals during the Roadrunners’ 4-3 road win in overtime over the Bakersfield Condors on Dec. 22, 2023. Tucson swept it’s three-game road trip through California, defeating San Jose, Bakersfield and San Diego over a four-night span. (Courtesy Tucson Roadrunners)
Tucson Roadrunners forward Dylan Guenther scores the second of his two goals during the Roadrunners’ 4-3 road win in overtime over the Bakersfield Condors on Dec. 22, 2023. Tucson swept it’s three-game road trip through California, defeating San Jose, Bakersfield and San Diego over a four-night span. (Courtesy Tucson Roadrunners)
Tucson Roadrunners forward Victor Soderstrom scores during the Roadrunners’ 4-3 road win in overtime over the Bakersfield Condors on Dec. 22, 2023. Tucson swept it’s three-game road trip through California, defeating San Jose, Bakersfield and San Diego over a four-night span. (Courtesy Tucson Roadrunners)
