When stuck in the kind of rut the Tucson Roadrunners are currently facing, those fleeting instances of prosperity surely seem that much tougher to hold on to.
For the second night in a row, and third time in the last six days, the Ontario Reign — arguably the American Hockey League’s worst team during the first month of the season — blew past the still-reeling Roadrunners. On Wednesday, the 6-2 final score gave the Reign (5-10-2-0) its fourth consecutive win, while the Roadrunners (6-8-0-0) have just two victories in their last 10 outings after their own 4-0 start.
Even after falling behind 2-0 through one period for the second straight night, the Roadrunners found a spark three minutes into the second frame. Michael Bunting, camped behind Reign goaltender Jacob Ingham’s net, shoveled the puck to Lane Pederson on the doorstep of the Ontario goal crease. Pederson slammed it home for his sixth goal of the season. Pederson’s 16 points after Wednesday are tied for fifth in the American Hockey league to date, while Bunting, just a point back at 15, is tied for seventh. Defenseman Kyle Capobianco also carded an assist.
But the positivity was short-lived. Twelve seconds after Tucson’s goal, Ontario capitalized on a turnover at the Roadrunners’ own blueline, with Cameron Gaunce then feeding Arthur Kaliyev on the picture-perfect one-timer to beat Tucson goaltender Chris Nell and push the difference back up to two.
Later in the period, with the Roadrunners trying again to recover and shorten the lead, rookie forward Jan Jenik drew a penalty in the Ontario zone that would lead to a Tucson power play. But just nine seconds into the Tucson advantage: another Ontario goal, this time short-handed by Aidan Dudas.
Now 4-1, the rout was back on and Tucson too far out of contention.
This was the fifth game in their last seven that Tucson gave up at least five goals.
On Tuesday, Potvin and Bunting attributed some of that defensive sputtering of late to communication issues in the Roadrunners’ own zone. On Wednesday, Potvin reiterated that it’s a lack of consistency from start to finish that’s dooming his team.
Roadrunners' Dysin Mayo (37) ties up Ontario's Mikey Eyssimont (21) to free the puck behind the goal in the third period of their AHL game at Tucson Arena, Tucson, Ariz., March 17, 2021.
“I hate to keep saying this, but we’re not doing it for a full 60 minutes. I think if it’s impossible to do it for 60 minutes, at this point we’ll settle for 55,” Potvin said.
“Accountability has to start with me. I’ve got to get these guys to do it,” he added. “I’ve got to get them to believe in it, and to do it for 60 minutes and to believe in each other. Honestly that’s on me.”
Tucson has also been without projected No. 1 goaltender Ivan Prosvetov over the past week. With Arizona Coyotes regulars Darcy Kuemper and Antti Raanta nursing injuries, longtime Roadrunner netminder Adin Hill has been pushed into lead status at the NHL level. Prosvetov is currently up with the Coyotes as Hill’s backup.
Here in Tucson, the Roadrunners have instead leaned on newcomers Connor LaCouvee and Chris Nell. Both have multiple years of pro hockey experience, but most of that spent at the ECHL level. LaCouvee has made four starts, but made way to Nell’s first action of the season Wednesday. Nell, who had appeared in 24 AHL outings over the last four seasons stopped 24 of Ontario’s 29 shots on goal, compared to Ingham’s 33 saves on 35 shots against in his first career AHL start.
“They’ve been doing a good job. We’ve been putting them in tough situations,” defenseman Dysin Mayo said. “When you’re giving teams two-on-ones, three-on-ones and breakaways, it’s just a matter of time before they score no matter who’s in net.
“Really, it’s not their fault at all,” Mayo added. “It’s all on us.”
The Roadrunners are officially 0-5 at home this season — the worst mark in the AHL. Tucson did win its first two games of the season, both at Tucson Arena, when the San Jose Barracuda were the designated home team due to COVID-19 restrictions keeping them from their own building. But even counting those two wins, Tucson’s 2-7 mark in Southern Arizona is a bottom-five number across the 28-team AHL.
“I don’t know if there’s anything to it, but these last couple home games here against Texas, and here against Ontario for these two games, we’re just too soft,” Mayo said. “We’re not hitting guys. It’s easy for teams to play against us. We’re losing foot races against the puck, we’re losing one-on-one battles. We just have to come in with a mentality to compete.”
One of the Roadrunners’ busiest weeks of the season, Tucson plays its third and fourth game over a six-day span Saturday and Sunday against the San Diego Gulls. Faceoff both days at Tucson Arena is at 5 p.m., with Saturday’s matchup the second of five Roadrunners’ home games this season set for local TV broadcast on Southern Arizona’s CW affiliate, KWBA-TV. On most area cable systems, “The CW Tucson” can be found on channel 8 or 58.
As for fixing their issues on both ends of the ice before Saturday, Potvin said, “There’s no doubt in my mind these guys can do it.
“We’ve got the ability in the room. We’ve got a lot of good character in the room,” he added. “We’ve got to sort some things out, but the belief in the team is still very vibrant in my book. I’m looking forward to this challenge and accepting it. I can’t wait.”
