The Colorado Eagles spoiled the Tucson Roadrunners’ return home, holding on to get a 2-1 win on Friday night.
The Roadrunners’ losing skid moved to four games, while Colorado snapped their three-game losing streak.
Colorado (19-11-2-0) jumped out to a 1-0 lead when forward Callahan Burke scored a shorthanded goal at 5:43 in the first. The Eagles outshot Tucson 12-6 in the first period.
"I thought we did a lot of good things," said Tucson forward Ryan McGregor. "They’re a good team, gotta clean a couple things up that and try and finish that game off but I thought we did a good job weathering their storm after the first period."
Colorado and Tucson (14-13-4-0) close out the series on Saturday night at 7 p.m. It’s the last time this season the Avalanche’s AHL affiliate will play in the Old Pueblko.
The Eagles outshot Tucson 27-24. The Roadrunners were 0 for 5 on the power play but killed all four of Colorado’s power plays.
Tucson goalie Ivan Prosvetov finished with 25 saves.
"Ivan had one of his strongest games, hate to lose a great goalie performance to a 2-1 loss," said Tucson coach Steve Potvin. "Ivan deserved a better fate there, he made some great saves there, kept us in the game."
McGregor scored Tucson’s goal, at 4:17 in the second. Defenseman Victor Soderstrom and right winger Cameron Hebig earned assists.
"It was a great pass by 'Soda,' wasn’t really expecting it," McGregor said. "I didn’t do much, I kinda got lucky, just put it in but good play by Heebs, playing the wall by Dougie (center Curtis Douglas) and good pass by 'Soda.'"
Soderstrom has four points in his last five games.
"He’s making an impact," Potvin said. "He started to gain some confidence you could see he’s got that eye, that want, he’s got that look in eyes that he’s got confidence and he’s very determined."
Eagles forward Oskar Olausson scored the game winner at 13:03 in the third period.
It was Tucson’s first contest at the Tucson Arena since Dec. 23 and the start of a four-game home stand. The attendance was 3,114.
"It’s good, it was a great crowd tonight," McGregor said. "so it’s always good to be back at home, having our fans cheering us on and hopefully the same thing tomorrow."
Slap shots
Captain and forward Adam Cracknell returned from injury for the Roadrunners. It’s his first game action since Dec. 1. Potvin said he helps settle the team with other injuries like to forward Jan Jenik and players moving up to the Coyotes. "The amount of leadership that he has, the amount of want and desire that he has is pretty impactful to our group," Potvin said. "So we’re obviously we’re very happy to have him back and we look forward to keeping him healthy and keep helping the boys.
Coyotes public address announcer Paul Surra is serving in that capacity at the Tucson Arena this weekend for usual Tucson PA announcer Kim Cota-Robles.
Forward Laurent Dauphin returned to the Roadrunners after playing a pair of games for the Coyotes. Dauphin is tied for first among current Roadrunners in scoring with 27 points, with center Jean-Sebastien Dea.
Arizona forward Michael Carcone leads the AHL and Tucson in scoring with 42 points.
Thousands of stuffed animals rained down on the Tucson Arena ice on Saturday, Dec. 10, 2022 as part of the Tucson Roadrunners' "Teddy Bear Toss" game. Roadrunner forward Travis Barron scored the team's first goal of the night in the second period of a 3-2 overtime loss -- that first goal serving as the signal to the 5,171 in attendance to throw the stuffed animals they brought on to the ice. The Roadrunners plan to donate the toys to Aviva Children's Services, who will distribute them throughout Pima County during the holiday season. Video by James Kelley/Special to the Arizona Daily Star
