The Tucson Roadrunners return to the friendly confines of Tucson Arena this week; but actually the road has been friendlier to Southern Arizona’s AHL team this season.
Fresh from a 2-1-0-0 road trip, the Roadrunners (7-4-0-0) boost a 4-1-0-0 road record.
“It’s always harder to win on the road, so for us to get two out of the three and then keep it a close game even in the second one we lost, that’s pretty big for us,” said Tucson center Nathan Smith.
The Roadrunners split a two-game set with the Ontario Reign, winning 4-3 and then losing 2-1 before ending the California trip with a 5-3 win over Coachella Valley Firebirds.
“It was a good road trip,” said Tucson head coach Steve Potvin. “We’d like to get those points out of Ontario, I felt for a good stretch there we were the better team that night, so that still keeps us up at night a little bit but overall it was definitely a good trip.”
Tucson hosts the Firebirds (6-4-0-0) on Friday and Saturday, both at 7 p.m.
“We gotta just try and elevate our game and try to keep finding ways to get better, no matter if we’re on the road or at home but it’s always great to play in front of our fans and especially against a team like Coachella,” Potvin said.
Roadrunners' center Nathan Smith (13) slams into Coachella Valley's defenseman Connor Carrick (58) while chasing a puck in the third period of their Oct. 21 AHL game at Tucson Arena.
Coachella Valley vs. Tucson II
After they edged Tucson 2-1 in the first round of the playoffs last year, playing three games in a row against CV feels familiar.
The Firebirds are in seventh place in the division, one spot behind the Roadrunners.
“I think this a great test for us because we know that they lost the last two games, they got a lot of emotion behind those two losses and they’re gonna have a lot of intent during this week,” Potvin said. “So for us it’s about matching their emotion, the intensity to improve our game, so we’re treating this as a playoff series.”
Tucson is 0-1-0-0 against Coachella Valley at home this year.
“I think any time you play a team three times in a row in the regular season is tough, home or away,” Smith said. “Coachella’s a very good team, they’ve got a lot of offensive power, we know that they lost two in a row, they lost to Calgary and then us, so they’re gonna have some fight in them and gotta come ready.”
Offensive Roadrunners
After starting the season with 2-1 and 3-2 wins, the Roadrunners have scored four or more goals in three of their last four games.
“I think it just took a little bit of time, guys started to play together and kinda get a little bit more chemistry together, know where guys are gonna be in the ice, helps a lot,” Smith said. “We’re obviously getting more pucks to the net, I think we had close to 50 shots there last game, so that’s obviously a big piece of it and we’re going to score more goals doing that.”
It’s the Roadrunners’ Coyotes prospects, Smith, forward Dylan Guenther and center Nathan Smith leading the way.
Guenther leads the team in points (11, a point a game), in assists (8) and is second in goals (3). Six of his points have come in the last four games.
Right wing Josh Doan leads the team in goals with five in 11 games, last year he had three in 14 games.
Smith is third in goals, third in assists, second in points and is currently on a five-game points scoring streak.
“I like that it’s not just about the offense for them, they’re trying to improve every facet of their game,” Potvin said. “So I think they’re doing really well and they’re kids that have strong belief and they’ve got a commitment to themselves and they’re trying to learn all they can to take the next step”
Defenseman Victor Söderström had three assists in the CV win and has 5 points (2 goals, 3 assists) in his last four games.
VIDEO: Tucson Roadrunners forward Milos Keleman gets stopped on the breakaway attempt in the second period on Oct. 21, 2023 by Coachella Valley Firebirds goaltender Chris Driedger, only to have Driedger stop Tucson's trailer on the play, Vlad Kolyochonok, on the second effort. (Video courtesy Tucson Roadrunners/AHL)
