The Tucson Roadrunners play their final road game of the regular season Wednesday against the Henderson Silver Knights.
But that actually doesnโt mean this is the last time the Roadrunners, who still have four home games left, too, will be on the road this season. Come the start of the 2023 AHL Calder Cup Playoffs, Tucson had better be comfortable being road warriors.
While Henderson (24-37-0-5) has already been eliminated from postseason contention, Tucson (30-30-7-0) heads to the Las Vegas region in seventh place in the Pacific Division, carrying a five-point cushion over the eighth-place San Jose Barracuda. It is still possible the Roadrunners could still miss the playoffs; but at the very least that final Pacific Division playoff spot would be decided in the final series of the season. Thatโs when San Jose and Tucson square off at Tucson Arena for a pair of games on April 14-15.
With five games to go in the regular season โ Tucson is at home this Friday and Saturday night for two against the Texas Stars before facing the Barracuda the next weekend โ sixth place is still within reach for Tucson. Fifth is technically still reachable too, although itโs a longshot with so few games to play to make ground.
Tucson is most likely to play a best-of-three series entirely on the road to open the postseason. As the standings sit right now, that matchup would come against either the Calgary Wranglers (47-15-3-1) or Coachella Valley Firebirds (46-14-4-2). Both teams are tied atop the division with an AHL-best 98 points.
Tucson Roadrunners forward Michael Carcone tallied a goal and an assist in Tucson's 3-2 overtime loss March 31, 2023, at the Bakersfield Condors. Even with the loss, the Roadrunners gained a point due to sending the game past regulation, putting Tucson six points up on San Jose for the AHL Pacific Division's final 2023 Calder Cup playoff spot. Carcone, the AHL's leading scorer as the season heads down the stretch, now has multi-point games in five of his last six appearances. Video courtesy Tucson Roadrunners
Despite losing two straight, the Roadrunners, led by AHL leading scorer Michael Carcone, have earned at least one standings point in six of their last eight games heading into Wednesday nightโs tilt. The Roadrunners are 4-3 against the Silver Knights so far this season. Wednesdayโs matchup at The Dollar Loan Center in Henderson is at 7 p.m.
Carcone still leads the AHL in scoring, but the margin has narrowed significantly. Carcone enters Wednesday with 79 points โ just one ahead of Alex Barre-Boulet of the Syracuse Crunch. Barre-Boulet, the reigning AHL Player of the Week, has eight points in his last four games.
Whether he wins the scoring title or not, Carcone is on pace end the season to not only be the first Roadrunner ever to notch 30 goals, 50 assists and 80 points in a single season, heโd be the first do any of those three at all.
