Of all the Jekyll-and-Hyde elements to the Roadrunners’ season so far, their penchant to put pucks past opposing on one night only to struggle next must be perplexing to both Tucson’s coaching staff and the locker room.
Consider the Roadrunners’ results heading into Saturday’s game at Ontario: Tucson defeated Colorado 4-1 on Dec. 3 only to lose 4-0 the following night. Tucson scored four goals in regulation against the first-place Stockton Heat on Dec. 10 before completing a 5-4 overtime victory. A day later, Stockton won 5-1.
And then there was the midweek set with Henderson just a few days ago. Tucson took a 3-1 lead over the Silver Knights heading into the third period Tuesday, only to fall 4-3 in overtime. The next night, Henderson shut out the Roadrunners, 3-0.
Tucson scored just 13 goals over those six games. Still, coach Jay Varady says he’s impressed with who has been delivering: alternate captain Blake Speers, forward Ryan McGregor, AHL journeyman vet Terry Broadhurst and others.
“These guys have been working incredibly hard for our hockey team,” Varady said of “Doing some things killing penalties. Blocking shots. Taking face offs. Things that are important to our group, that don’t get rewarded or talked about as much.
“It’s good that they’re able to collect a couple points this (past week).”
Nine of Tucson’s last 13 goals have come from some not-so-usual suspects: Forwards Travis Barron, Hudson Elynuik, Broadhurst, McGregor and Speers, as well as defensive prospect Victor Soderstrom. Prior to those last six games, those six players had combined for just two goals all season.
Barron notched his first goal of the season in Tucson’s 5-4 shootout win over the division-leading Heat, then added two more just two games later. Prior to that, he had just three goals in his entire 72-game career — and just one in the last 57 games.
“You know, there’s the saying that even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while,” Barron said with a laugh. “Hopefully I can keep on the puck and help my team get a few wins.”
Speers’ first goal was a long time coming. He played only four games in the pandemic adjusted 2021 season, suffering an Achilles tendon rupture during a routine off-ice training activity. He battled back in time for opening night in October, and was awarded an alternate captain’s “A” on his jersey.
Varady said Speers’ contributions will never be fully tied to scoring goals or notching points, but added that it’s “great to get him on the board.”
“He does so much for our team. One of the leaders in the locker room off the ice,” Varady said. “He’s working and he was frustrated. It’s hard for him to get points right and I don’t think he cares how they go in — they show up in the newspaper the same the next day.”
Speers said his scoring drought is “definitely something that’s been weighing on me pretty heavily.”
“As a player in my position, and in my role on the team, I think it was important for me to continue focusing on the little things and staying really process-focused,” he said. “I was hopeful that if I continued doing that, that things would turn around in the offensive categories. And, obviously, I’m hoping (the goal against Stockton) was a good sign.”
McGregor is another Roadrunner who is finding his stride after an injury. Deflecting attention away from his first goal of late — he scored the lone goal in the 5-1 loss to Stockton — McGregor said he’s been happy to see his teammates get on the board, too. In all, 18 different Roadrunners have scored at least one goal over 19 games. By comparison, 25 players tallied at least one goal last year in 36 games, with 24 players over 58 games before the mid-March halting of the 2019-20 campaign.
“Those guys have all been great for us all year,” he said. “Just good habits all year, and they got rewarded there.”
As for himself, McGregor added: “Obviously it’s nice to get the monkey off the back. I’m just trying to help the team however I can hear and, you know, if that means putting the puck in the net, it’s nice to see it happen every now and then.”
