Tucson Roadrunners get needed win after emotional week

A week after watching their captain go down, the Tucson Roadrunners are slowly returning to normalcy.

Tucson defeated the Stockton Heat 5-4 on Sunday, marking the team’s first win since Craig Cunningham collapsed on the ice last Saturday night.

The Roadrunners split the weekend series with the Heat and moved to 9-2-2 on the season.

Kyle Wood, wearing a team wristband honoring Cunningham, slapped in a pair of goals including a go-ahead score late in the second period to cap a comeback victory.

“It was definitely nice to get a little break there and be with the guys,” Wood said. “(Saturday’s game) was a little emotional for the guys, but we bounced back today and it showed on the scoreboard.”

The Roadrunners looked shaky in the first period, allowing two goals within the first seven minutes.

Tucson’s Marek Langhamer made just his second start at goalie this season and his first since Oct. 21, a 2-1 Roadrunners’ road victory over the Heat.

“It was a tough game,” Langhamer said. “They had a lot of chances so we’ve got to clean some stuff up.”

Scores by Wood and Brendan Perlini offset the Heat’s first-period strikes, but Stockton grabbed a quick 3-2 lead in the second period.

Tucson responded with an equalizer by Christian Fischer before Wood and Henrik Samuelson put the Roadrunners ahead for good.

Samuelson’s score marked his first goal of the season. The left wing was called up to the power play rotation alongside Perlini and Chris Mueller to make up for Cunningham’s absence.

While the Roadrunners must make due without Cunningham’s presence on the ice, they paid homage to the team captain outside the locker room.

Cunningham’s No. 14 jersey was displayed on the wall right across from the locker room entrance, and next to it the Roadrunners hung a get-well-soon banner signed by the players.

“I was really worried about when you get into the game situation how everyone is going to relive through everything,” Roadrunners head coach Mark Lamb said.

“I really liked our first period, and to come away with this weekend and have the guys play a game, they went through it and now we move on.”