Stopping a runaway train in its tracks isn’t supposed to be easy.
True to form, it wasn’t — despite the Tucson Roadrunners’ coming oh-so-close yet again.
The Roadrunners played the now-seemingly unbeatable Bakersfield Condors tight for three full periods once again Monday night at Tucson Arena. But, again, the Roadrunners came away with nothing to show for it in the standings, falling 3-1.
For the second straight game, along with Saturday’s result, the Roadrunners and Condors were either deadlocked or separated by a single goal virtually the entire way, despite the final deficit.
“I think it’s just constancy around the puck. We have spurts, but spurts just aren’t good enough. That’s a hot team,” Tucson captain Dakota Mermis said. “Consistently you have to have guys at the net, consistently you have to get the puck to the net, and you’ve got to possess the puck. And, unfortunately, consistently, we just don’t do that enough.”
With the two victories, Bakersfield’s franchise-record (and American Hockey League season-high) win streak now sits at 17 games, as the Condors (33-15-2-1) sit atop both the Pacific Division and Western Conference Standings, and just behind the Charlotte Checkers for the best record in the entire 31-team AHL.
The Condors’ last two losses came Jan. 9 to the Texas Stars and Jan. 5 to the Roadrunners (25-19-4-2); yet, since then, Tucson has fallen to Bakersfield four times, with all four coming at Tucson Arena. To boot, all four defeats came by a two-goal differential, with three of them – including Saturday and Monday this go-round –one-goal games if not for late empty-net goals during desperation time for the Roadrunners.
“Not good enough,” Tucson head coach Jay Varady said of his team’s play, despite the somewhat close deficits. “You lose by a goal, you lose. We want to win, and that’s not good enough for us.”
Shane Starrett and Adin Hill shined across the ice from one another in net. Starrett stopped 19 of 20 shots faced for the Condors, while Hill turned away 22 of 24 for Tucson. For the fourth time in his last five starts, Hill allowed two goals or less, although Tucson’s record is 1-3-0-1 over that span.
After a scoreless first period, Bakersfield’s Joe Gambardella opened the scoring at a little more than seven minutes into the second frame. The goal was Gambardella’s 25th of the season, putting him fifth overall in the American Hockey League goal scoring race.
Less than two minutes later, a blast from Mermis clipped teammate Giovanni Fiore on its way in. Fiore was credited with his 10th goal of the season, assisted by Mermis and Brayden Burke.
With about three minutes remaining in the second, a shot by Bakersfield’s Cooper Marody was stopped by Hill, but a long bounce back to the point ended upon the stick of Tyler Benson. Benson blasted it home for his ninth goal of the season and the 2-1 Condor lead.
The score would stick at 2-1 until Patrick Russell notched an empty net goal with one-tenth of a second to play.
“For me, it’s just not good enough right now. We need another step,” Varady said. “We keep talking about it; we’ve got to go do it with some actions. We’ve got to find a way to score more than one goal. We’ve got to score a five-on-five goal. We’ve got to find a way into the blue paint. We’ve got to find a way to have one go off us. That’s where we’re at.”
After Monday’s loss the Roadrunners take aim at Loveland, Colorado this coming weekend, where they’ll face the Colorado Eagles in a two-game set.
Saturday’s 7:05 p.m. start and Sunday’s 3:05 p.m. faceoff carry rich playoff implications for both teams, as Tucson, as of Monday night, sits four points up on Colorado for the Pacific Division’s fourth and final playoff berth.
The Eagles, however, have two more games — Tuesday and Wednesday at home against San Antonio — before facing the Roadrunners. Pending those outcomes, that narrow divisional race could be even tighter come Saturday.
