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AHL Tucson Roadrunners

Game 30 Preview: Colorado at Tucson

December 29, 2019 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Tucson Roadrunners News Release


Game #30 - Colorado (16-10-2-1) at Tucson (23-6-0-0)

5 PM MST, Tucson Arena, Tucson, AZ

LISTEN LIVE 97.1 The Bull, iHeart Radio app

WATCH LIVE AHL TV

Referees: Andrew Bruggeman (#22), Chris Waterstradt (#88)

Linesmen: Colin Besch (#58) Brent Hooks (#20)

Referees: Andrew Bruggeman (#22), Chris Waterstradt (#88)

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

Less than 24 hours after having their streak filled with team history come to a close, it's back to business tonight for the Roadrunners in the second half of a back-to-back against the AHL affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche.

Featuring the special start time of 5 p.m., tonight is also the second of three games in four nights for the Pacific Division leading club.

Three Things

1) After being a pivotal element to the team's success to start the month of December, the team's seemingly missing part in Saturday's loss was the power play. Ironically enough, Michael Chaput's waved-off goal would've come on the man advantage but instead when all was said and done the team's special teams unit went 0/6 in the final box score. It was just the second time all season that the team had six or more power plays and went blank. The group had seven power play goals in their three most recent games entering this weekend; it would be hard to see a "0-for" again.

2) Colorado now has points in eight straight games and regardless of what happened/didn't happen last night in other areas of the game, it's understandable to see why they're clicking the way they are. The Roadrunners had only trailed at the end of one on home ice four times entering Saturday's game (one of them had come from Colorado before) and the Eagles goal within the first two minutes of the game was very uncharacteristic of the Roadrunners to allow. With that being said, the Tucson locker room knows that Colorado can score when they get odd-man chances and that's exactly what happened on the first goal. A Roadrunner defenseman got caught up in the play and a two-on-one for the visiting roster full of talent turned up a goal for them. As we know, one goal made all the difference last night.

3) Ivan Prosvetov started three straight games for the first time in his pro career last night and despite going back-to-back last weekend, there's no four-day holiday break behind this. Plus, the team is back in action Tuesday. If there were ever a spot where Ivan might get a night off, one would have to think that tonight might be that night. Hello, Brandon Halverson? Maybe?

What's The Word?

Roadrunners Head Coach Jay Varady's biggest positive takeaway from last night...

"We had a little bit of push back in the third. It was a situation where we were in a hole and I thought our guys pushed to get it back even."

Roadrunners Head Coach Jay Varady on what he'd like to see different tonight from his group...

"I'd like to see us be hungrier around the blue paint. We had the puck for most of the night last night but we spent a lot of time along the perimeter."

Roadrunners Head Coach Jay Varady on having another chance at Colorado...

"I'm excited to get back at it. The guys are as well. Night's like last night don't leave a very good taste in your mouth, so we want to go get after it."

Number to Know

5. After scoring three points in the first two months and 20 games of the season, second-year defenseman Cam Dineen has come on strong during the Roadrunners December, tallying a goal and four assists. We've talked a lot about the production of the depth forwards but the young left-handed blue liner's confidence seems to be growing and it showed last night on the goal he setup that deflected off of Dysin Mayo.

We're Doing It Live

Catch tonight's active LIVE on AHLTV or join Roadrunners play-by-play voice Adrian Denny today only on 97.1 The Bull and iHeart Radio as he calls the game from the Roadrunners' flagship radio station, where coverage begins at 4:45 PM.

Check out the Tucson Roadrunners Statistics

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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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