Not much is going wrong for the Tucson Roadrunners lately, even when things don't go completely right.
Tucson fell behind 4-2 Wednesday on the road, yet rallied for a 6-5 overtime win over the San Diego Gulls to not only take back the I-8 Border Rivalry Trophy, but more importantly allow the Roadrunners to jump up into a virtual tie for sixth place in the AHL's Pacific Division.
The win, buoyed by a third-straight multi-point game by AHL scoring leader Michael Carcone and goals by six different Tucson skaters, is the Roadrunners' second straight in overtime, third in a row overall, fifth in their last six, and sixth in eight times out. Tucson jumps above .500 for the first time in weeks and is now tied with the Bakersfield Condors at 68 points; that's all right as the Roadrunners conveniently head to Bakersfield's Mechanics Bank Arena for two games this weekend with playoff positioning certainly up for grabs.
Tucson Roadrunners forward Michael Carcone extends his single-season club record with his 30th goal of 2022-23 in the Roadrunners' matchup with the San Diego Gulls March 29, 2023 at Pechanga Arena in San Diego. Video courtesy Tucson Roadrunners
The Condors (31-29-2-2, 66 points) fell 5-1 to the Coachella Valley Firebirds Wednesday night allowing the Roadrunners (30-29-6-0, 66 points) to jump into that near-dead heat.
Tucson's game winner came 3:13 into the five-minute, 3-on-3 overtime period by relative newcomer Steven Kampfer, a veteran defenseman acquired three weeks ago by the NHL's Arizona Coyotes in a trade with the Detroit Red Wings before he assigned to Tucson to shore up the Roadrunners' blueline efforts.
Carcone, who had a goal and two assists, now has seven points in his last three games to re-wrestle away the AHL's scoring lead, for the time being at least. Second place T.J. Tynan had one point in a loss for the Ontario Reign Wednesday night; Tucson now sits five points behind Ontario for fifth place in the Pacific Division. The division's top seven teams earn AHL Calder Cup postseason berths.
In addition to those by Kampfer and Carcone, the Roadrunners also received goals by Colin Theisen, Jan Jenik, Devante Stephens and Adam Cracknell.
Jenik had his second three-point game in both of his appearances since missing 37 games while recovering from injury.
Tucson Roadrunners forward Jan Jenik notched his second goal and fourth point in his last two games played -- this one coming during the Roadrunners' matchup with the San Diego Gulls March 29, 2023 at Pechanga Arena in San Diego. Video courtesy Tucson Roadrunners
San Diego took an early 2-0 lead, with Pavol Regenda scoring 14 seconds into the game and Benoit-Olivier Groulx 3:17 in. Not even two minutes later, Cracknell and Carcone had tied the game, which wasn't even five minutes in yet.
A Glenn Gawdin goal later in the first, followed by Chase Priskie's tally five minutes into the second period and San Diego was up 4-2. But Stevens, Jenik and Theisen would get the next three for the Roadrunners, to put Tucson up 5-4 eight minutes into the third.
Dylan Sikura's marker midway through the third period tied the game for San Diego and put a cap on scoring in regulation.
Tucson goaltender Tyler Parks hardly had his best statistical night, but he was on when it counted. Parks stopped all five shots he faced in overtime, pushing away 27 of 32 in all. The Roadrunners peppered San Diego netminder Gage Alexander with 46 shots; he stopped 40.
Tucson wins the season series over San Diego with a 4-2-2-0 record. The Roadrunners have either won or retained the I-8 Border Rivalry Trophy in six of the seven seasons the teams have faced each other, with last season being the only time San Diego has taken the season series outright.
