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Phoenix Finishes Second ECHL Season with a Record of 27-40-5

April 16, 2007 - ECHL (ECHL)
Phoenix RoadRunners News Release


'RUNNERS REWIND: The Phoenix RoadRunners wrapped up their second season in the ECHL last week as they were defeated four games to none by the Las Vegas Wranglers in the best-of-seven National Conference Quarterfinals.

Tuesday, the Las Vegas Wranglers used a four-goal second period to defeat the Phoenix RoadRunners 5-1 in Game 1 of the National Conference Quarterfinals before a crowd of 2,269 at US Airways Center.

The two clubs traded power play goals in the first period. Las Vegas opened the scoring at 4:00 on the man-advantage when Marco Peluso beat RoadRunners goalie Cody Rudkowsky with a wrist shot to the upper right corner of the net for a 1-0 lead. Phoenix tied the score late in the period when Kris Hogg, in his first professional game, pounced on the loose puck in the slot and snapped it by Wranglers goalie Mike McKenna with 8.6 seconds remaining in the first on the power play to even things up at 1-1.

The Wranglers blew the game open in the second period with a pair of power play goals 21 seconds apart. Derek Edwardson scored on a wrist shot from the left-wing circle at 3:22 of the middle period on a two-man advantage. Aaron Power made it a 3-1 hockey game just 21 seconds later at 3:43 on the power play when he beat Rudkowsky with a one-time slap shot from the blue line. Shawn Limpright and Tyler Mosienko added to the score sheet at 12:54 and 17:13 of the second period respectively to give Las Vegas a 5-1 lead after two periods.

Neither team scored in the third period.

Las Vegas out-shot Phoenix 50-29. Rudkowsky stopped 45 shots but took the loss to fall to 0-1 in the playoffs. The RoadRunners went 1-6 on the power play while Las Vegas was 3-7 on the man-advantage.

Thursday, Nick Anderson scored the go-ahead and eventual game-winning goal with 5:45 remaining in regulation to lead the Las Vegas Wranglers past the Phoenix RoadRunners 3-2 before a crowd of 2,677 at US Airways Center.

As they did Tuesday, the RoadRunners and Wranglers traded goals in the first period. Phoenix opened the scoring at 4:07 on the power play when Alexandre Rouleau snapped a wrist shot by the left shoulder of Las Vegas goalie Mike McKenna giving the Roadrunners a 1-0 lead. The Wranglers tied things up late in the period though as Adam Cracknell tipped Ryan Bonni's rebound behind RoadRunners net-minder Cody Rudkowsky with 5.5 seconds remaining in the first to knot the score at 1-1.

Las Vegas took their first lead of the night at 18:07 of the second period when Arpad Mihaly found the back of the net on a pass from Joe Tallari giving the Wranglers a 2-1 advantage. The RoadRunners wasted little time tying the game as Jeff MacMillan received a perfect lead pass ahead of the Las Vegas defense and put a backhand shot past McKenna at 19:20 to tie the game at 2-2 after two periods.

Anderson scored the game-winner as he received the pass behind the RoadRunners defense and beat Rudkowsky over the shoulder at 14:15 of the third period.

Las Vegas out-shot Phoenix 40-38. Rudkowsky stopped 37 shots but took the loss to fall to 0-12 in the playoffs. The RoadRunners went 1-8 on the power play and held Las Vegas to 0-6 on the man-advantage.

Friday, Derek Edwardson scored the game-winning goal on a two-man advantage power play with 9:03 seconds remaining in the first overtime to lift the Las Vegas Wranglers to a 5-4 win over the Phoenix RoadRunners before a crowd of 4,282 at the Orleans Arena.

For the third consecutive game, the RoadRunners and Wranglers exchanged goals in the opening twenty minutes. Phoenix got on the scoreboard first when Cam Paddock jammed home Todd Jackson's rebound past Las Vegas goalie Kevin Nastiuk at 3:53 for a 1-0 lead. The Wranglers would tie things up with a power play goal at 9:50. Shawn Limpright found Aaron Power at the left-wing circle, and Power ripped a one-time slap shot past RoadRunners goalie Cody Rudkowsky to even the score at 1-1.

Las Vegas took their first lead of the night with their second power play goal at 6:24 when Steve Crampton tipped Limpright's centering pass over the blocker of Rudkowsky. The RoadRunners proceeded to score the next two goals as Brock Hooton beat Nastiuk from the left-wing circle at 12:14 on the power play to tie the game at 2-2, and then Tommy Maxwell scored his first playoff goal knocking Liam Lindstrom's rebound back into the net at 13:57 giving Phoenix a 3-2 lead. The Wrangler's would have the period's final say though when a fortunate bounce off the endboards found Tyler Mosienko's stick, and Mosienko shot the puck off Rudkowsky's pads and in at 16:51 to knot the score at 3-3 going into the second intermission.

Limpright gave the Wranglers a 4-3 edge early in the third when he wrapped the puck around the net through Rudkowsky's pads at 3:38. But the RoadRunners would tally the equalizer with less than four minutes remaining in regulation as Maxwell found Jeff Kyrzakos in the slot, and Kyrzakos tipped a shot over Nastiuk and into the net at 16:33 to tie the game at 4-4.

Edwardson beat Rudkowsky for the game-winner curling out to the left-wing circle at 10:57 of the overtime on a two-man advantage play.

Las Vegas out-shot Phoenix 45-40. Rudkowsky stopped 40 shots but took the loss to fall to 0-3 in the playoffs. The RoadRunners went 1-7 on the power play while Las Vegas was 3-7 on the man-advantage.

Saturday, the Las Vegas Wranglers scored three power play goals and held on to defeat the Phoenix RoadRunners 3-2 in Game 4 of the National Conference Quarterfinals and win the series four games to none before a crowd of 5,217 at the Orleans Arena

For just the second time in the series, Las Vegas tallied the first goal as Tyler Mosienko tipped Aaron Power's rebound behind RoadRunners goalie Cody Rudkowsky at 2:08 of the first period on the power play giving the Wranglers an early 1-0 lead.

Ryan Bonni extended the Wranglers edge to two goals when he Rudkowsky with a one-time slap shot from the right point at 5:45 of the second period on the power play. Phoenix would finally crack the scoreboard at 8:53 on the man-advantage as Chris Cava's shot from the blue sailed through traffic and behind Las Vegas goalie Kevin Nastiuk to cut the deficit to 2-1. The Wranglers re-gained their two-goal lead at 12:34 of the second on the power play when Aaron Power beat Rudkowsky with another one-time slap shot from the point to make it 3-1. But the RoadRunners would have the period's final say as Todd Jackson was credited with his first goal of the playoffs when his push to the net deflected off a Wranglers defenseman and into the net at 19:51 on the power play to bring Phoenix to within 3-2.

The RoadRunners staged a furious rally in the final minutes of the third period, but could not break through Nastiuk for the equalizer.

Las Vegas out-shot Phoenix 44-33. Rudkowsky stopped 43 shots but took the loss to fall to 0-4 in the playoffs. The RoadRunners went 2-4 on the power play while Las Vegas was 3-8 on the man-advantage.

ONE-GOAL WONDERS: The RoadRunners lost the final three games of the series by just a single goal, the first time all season that Phoenix dropped three straight one-goal games. Despite the 47 point difference between the RoadRunners and the Wranglers in the regular season, nine out of the 13 games between the two clubs were decided by two goals or less, and seven out of those nine games were one-goal games. Las Vegas won six of those match-ups. Including the playoffs, the RoadRunners finished 9-17-5 in games decided by a single goal. Lifetime, 16 out of the 22 meetings between Phoenix and Las Vegas have been decided by two goals or less, setting up a nice rivalry moving forward.

MONYCH WAS MONEY: Forward Lance Monych led the RoadRunners in playoff scoring with four assists in four games. Monych finished the year with four goals and 10 assists in 13 games against Las Vegas to lead all RoadRunners in scoring against the Wranglers.

INTO THE FIRE: Rookie Kris Hogg made an immediate impact in the playoffs tallying a goal and adding two assists against the Wranglers. Hogg, a former fourth round draft choice by the Calgary Flames at the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, was signed by the RoadRunners on Apr. 4, but did not appear in the line-up until Game One of the Kelly Cup Playoffs. Hogg set a RoadRunners club record with 11 shots on goal Saturday.

NEWS & NOTES: Nine RoadRunners made their professional playoff debuts this year...Forward Todd Jackson tallied a goal and added two assists in the series giving him four goals and 11 points in 17 career postseason games...Goaltender Cody Rudkowsky is now 9-15 in 24 playoff starts over eight seasons...Phoenix finished the series 5-25 (20%) on the power play, but surrendered nine goals on the penalty kill including three in three out of the four games in the series.

"10 MINUTES IN THE BOX" ON 106.7 KWSS-FM: Join the "Voice of the RoadRunners" Dan Weiss at 9:10 a.m. Wednesday for the final edition of "10 Minutes in the Box", a weekly segment devoted entirely to your Phoenix RoadRunners on 106.7 KWSS-FM and online at www.kwss1067.com.

UP NEXT: The RoadRunners return to the ice at US Airways Center in October 2007. Keep up with everything that's happening during the off-season from player signings to community appearances and the release of the 2007-08 schedule by logging on to www.phxroadrunners.com Information on season tickets, half-season packages, and flex plans for the third season of Phoenix RoadRunners hockey are available by calling (602) 462-GOAL. Have a safe and happy summer!



ECHL Stories from April 16, 2007


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