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AHL Tucson Roadrunners

Game 28 Preview: Ontario at Tucson

December 21, 2019 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Tucson Roadrunners News Release


Game #28 - Ontario (13-11-3-1) at Tucson (22-5-0-0)

7 PM MST, Tucson Arena, Tucson, AZ

LISTEN LIVE Fox Sports 1450, iHeart Radio app

WATCH LIVE AHL TV

Roadrunners Current Roster: Click here

Referees: Sean Fernandez (#72), Brett Roeland (#59)

Linesmen: Rob Fay (#32), Bretn Hooks (#20)

One last game before the holiday break, why not have it be the biggest promotionally packed night of the season?

The team's second-ever Kachina Satuday is also the club's fourth annual Teddy Bear Toss and the first 1,500 in the doors will receive a Hockey Bank giveaway courtesy of Desert Diamond Casinos.

Oh, and the Roadrunners will look to extend the lead they've earned on their league-best 22-5 record while furthering their already franchise-best seven-game win streak.

Three Things

1) After the defense highlighted the four-game flawless road trip with Adin Hill and Ivan Prosvetov combining to allow only three goals in four games, it was the offense that took the shine last night by way of half of a dozen goals. The Roadrunners have scored four or more goals in 13 of the team's 27 games played this year and Hudson Fasching earned his first pro hat trick last night, a welcomed sign for the forward who has had quite the nice season. One of 24's goals came on the man advantage, where Tucson's special teams had multiple goals on the power play for the second straight game. More on that in a second....

2) From the opposition's point of view, if the Ontario Reign want to have any chance at being successful tonight, they're going to have to stay out of the penalty box. The league's most penalized time (517 PIM) gave Tucson five chances on the power play last night and they paid for them due to the two aforementioned goals. If they don't give Tucson those chances, it becomes a 4-3 game and an empty net goal doesn't happen for the Roadrunners fourth.

3) Ivan Prosvetov continued to do Ivan Prosvetov things last night, becoming the first goalie in team history to win six straight starts. The first-year pro, who hasn't lost since October 29, will lead the way with Adin Hill in Glendale. However, can it be just him? When asked post-game last night about Ivan "staying on the horse" and getting the majority of the workload, Head Coach Jay Varady emphatically said, "we have two guys. Tyler Parks is with us." Back-to-backs are exceptionally tough on goaltenders and Ivan did see 40 shots last night.

What's The Word?

Roadrunners forward Tyler Steenbergen on how the team feels now that they've had time to review last night's win...

"We think it was a pretty good game. We can be a little bit better at giving up some odd man rushes; I know that's something we're going to look to be better at tonight. If we can do that, we should be able to get the same result."

Roadrunners forward Tyler Steenbergen on how the team is preparing to handle another presumably physical battle against the Reign...

"We just need to let them do what they do. We'll play hard between the whistles. We know they'll try and cause some stuff but we can't buy into it. We'll try and stay out of the box, like we did last night."

Roadrunners forward Tyler Steenbergen on the club's special teams units, who have been exceptional lately...

"Everyone's buying in together. You have to be on the same page as your unit and in that regard, everyone is doing a good job. You have to see where everyone else is and because of that happening, our breakouts and break-in's have been good."

Number to Know

8. Hudson Fasching's hat trick last night was the second of the season for the team and the eighth in franchise history.

We're Doing It Live

Catch tonight's active LIVE on AHLTV or join Roadrunners play-by-play voice Adrian Denny on Fox Sports 1450 AM and iHeart Radio as he calls the game from the Roadrunners' flagship radio station, where coverage begins at 6:45 PM.

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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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