The Ontario Reign spoiled the Tucson Roadrunners' "Teddy Bear Toss," handing the home team their third straight overtime loss.
The Reign beat Tucson 3-2 on Saturday night, one night after it topped the Roadrunners 4-3 in overtime.
“I thought we played well, I thought we played hard. It’s unfortunate but that’s been kinda the word as of late, is ‘unfortunate,’” said Roadrunner left wing Travis Barron. “So we try and turn this around and build on every day getting better.”
After Ontario forward Taylor Ward scored with 4:28 left in the third to go up 2-1, Tucson rallied to force overtime but Reign forward Rasmus Kupari scored 1:36 into overtime to secure the series sweep for Ontario.
Tucson forward Adam Cracknell scored the equalizing goal with 1:06 left on a 6-on-4 power play assisted by defenseman Cam Dineen and forward Michael Carcone.
Roadrunners coach Steve Potvin said he was "proud the guys came back."
Tucson Barron — whose nickname, fittingly, is “Bear” — scored the "Teddy Bear Toss"-triggering goal 6:01 into the second period. Defenseman Victor Soderstrom and forward Miloš Kelemen got assists.
“Soderstrom moved the puck around and me and 'Dougie' (center Curtis Douglas) kinda figured out I was gonna take it and shot on net and the bears are flying,” Barron said.
The stuffed animals went to Aviva Children’s Services.
Barron said it was his first "Teddy Bear Toss" goal. He finished with one shot and got into a fight before scoring his fourth goal of the season.
“I’m proud of him,” Potvin said. “He respects the game and he comes out every night for his teammates and he does everything for his team and he was rewarded tonight with a goal four, he’s fighting, he’s doing everything he can and he’s such a big piece of our team that it can’t go unnoticed.”
On Friday night the Roadrunners had 47 shots on goal, a season high. On Saturday Ontario outshot Tucson 41-17, with Tucson goalie Ivan Prosvetov getting 38 saves.
“He was good in there tonight,” Potvin said.
The Reign were scoreless on five power plays, while Tucson went 1 for 5.
“Our PK went 100%, so that’s a step in the right direction,” Potvin said.
The Roadrunners continue the homestead when they face Coachella Valley (12-4-3-0) on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
“The hockey gods are not going to give us anything for free, so we’re going to have to go back to the drawing board as they say,” Potvin said.
Slap shots
- Tucson dropped to 3-2-1-0 in Teddy Bear Toss games. The Roadrunners beat Ontario during their first ever "Toss" game, in 2016. They lost to the Reign before beating Ontario 5-0 in 2018 and 8-0 in 2019.
- The Roadrunners wore their white Kachina jerseys for the second time, but with a twist. The numbers, formerly a light tan color, were Roadrunners red.
- The club has played three straight overtime games for the first time since January 2018.
Roadrunners goalie Ivan Prosvetov works with junior hockey players during a practice session at the Tucson Convention Center. Video Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star 2022
