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AHL Tucson Roadrunners

Game #21: Tucson Roadrunners vs. Colorado Eagles

December 8, 2023 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Tucson Roadrunners News Release


Game #21: Tucson Roadrunners vs. Colorado Eagles

December 8, 2023/in Game Previews & Recaps/by Jonathon Schaffer

Game #21: Tucson Roadrunners (12-6-1-1) vs. Colorado (9-8-3-0)

Time: Friday, December 8, 7:00 p.m. MST, Blue Arena, Loveland, Colorado

Referees: #48 Beau Halkidis, #75 Casey Terreri

Linespersons: #24 Eric McDonald, #1 Chase Mcgee

The Tucson Roadrunners head to the Rockies to face the Colorado Eagles for the weekend. Traveling with them is a Pacific Division best five-game point streak (4-0-1-0) while at 12-6-1-1 in the standings. Colorado is at 9-8-3-0 and coming off of a two-game series where they lost two home games to the Iowa Wild last weekend. Tucson will be wearing their Black Kachina jerseys, which they debuted last weekend against San Jose, on the road for the next two games against Colorado.

Three things:

Tucson has scored a combined 15 goals in its last three games with 11 of those goals coming in the first period. The team has outscored their opponents 11-1 in the first period in those three games and overall have outscored their opponents 22-13 this season in the first period this season.

Travis Barron has scored five goals in his last five games with four of them coming in the team's last series against the San Jose Barracuda that included a hat trick on Saturday. Barron is just two goals away from his total from last season (7) and one goal away from the halfway mark to his career-high which he set during the 2021-22 season with 12 goals in 64 games played for Tucson.

Goaltender Matthew Villalta took a rest day in Saturday's 7-5 win against San Jose and did not dress. Even so, he still leads the AHL goaltenders in games played (16), minutes (948:24) and wins (10). His 10 wins are tied with Calgary Wranglers netminder Dustin Wolf, who is currently recalled to the Flames. Villalta is currently riding a three-game winning streak where he has a 1.68 goals against average and .943 save percentage.

What did they say?

"We've seen Colorado play a bunch these last couple of years; we know their style of play and we're ready for a battle."

Tucson Forward Curtis Douglas on the upcoming series against the Colorado Eagles.

Latest Transactions:

Defenseman Lleyton Moore has joined the Tucson Roadrunners (AHL) on a Professional Tryout from the Wichita Thunder (ECHL) where he led them in scoring by defensemen with three goals and 14 assists for 17 points in 22 games as the 21-year-old skates in his rookie season.

Defenseman Patrik Koch was recalled to the Arizona Coyotes (NHL) on Wednesday and has been reassigned back to the Tucson Roadrunners (AHL).

Number to Know:

8 The Number of wins the Roadrunners have this season in the first game of a series with two or more matchups. The team owns an overall record of 8-1-0-0 in those game ones.

WE ARE LIVE:

Tonight's game will be broadcast live on the radio on FOX Sports 1450AM and the iHeartRadio app. Coverage will begin at 6:45 p.m. MST with Roadrunners Warm-Up hosted by Jonathon Schaffer, before the "Voice of the Roadrunners" Adrian Denny has all the action from The Blue Arena. Friday also marks the debut of Roadrunners Postgame hosted by Jonathon Schaffer for all away games. The postgame shows will feature a live interview from the locker room with Adrian Denny. The game will also be available at AHLtv.com.

Check out the Tucson Roadrunners Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from December 8, 2023


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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