AHL Tucson Roadrunners

Game 42 Preview: Colorado at Tucson

Published on February 1, 2020 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Tucson Roadrunners News Release


Game #42 - Colorado (23-14-3-1) at Tucson (28-12-1-0)

7 PM MST, Tucson Arena, Tucson, AZ

LISTEN LIVE Fox Sports 1450, iHeart Radio app

WATCH LIVE AHL TV

Referees: Mathieu Minitti (#30), Reid Anderson (#49)

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

A "revenge game" as Tyler Steenbergen called it post-game Friday is set for this evening after the Colorado Eagles took last night's wild ride by a score of 4-3.

Doubling as the team's final home game before they hit the road for seven games in 13 days in six different venues, tonight is surely one that Tucson will want to win to enter their annual Gem Show Road Trip on a high note. Hand-in-hand with that, obviously they'd like to snap their now three-game losing skid, the first time all season having lost three in a row.

Three Things

1) Last night's contest was one that was hard to get a beat on. A scoreless first, followed by an insane second, and then a scoreless third. If there's one point to identify, special teams played a huge factor with four of the seven second period tallies coming when one of the two sides was down a man. The positive in it for Tucson is that for the first time since December 21 the team got multiple strikes on the man advantage. The downside was that something as simple as missing the net led to an odd-man-rush for the opposition and the eventual game winning goal, while on the power play. With that being said, can they bring the same energy tonight? Both goals came in similar fashion from the same unit, a point drive from Aaron Ness. With tip options available, #20 also possesses the ability to get shots through traffic better than most. Can the same unit find gold again tonight?

2) As we noted yesterday, Colorado's going to allow goals, but they're also going to score some of their own. Exemplified last night, they don't need extended possession time to score either, they're opportunistic and will find ways to bury. The opposition is likely feeling good entering tonight, allowing just one five-on-five goal last night and getting 38 shots through onto Prosvetov. It's ironic, as said by Roadrunners HC Jay Varady and forward Tyler Steenbergen post-game, both felt as if they play similar to the way they did Friday, they'll be fine tonight. However, you'd have to imagine Colorado is likely thinking the same thing.

3) A very interesting situation for the Roadrunners in net tonight. In the past with the Prosvetov-Parks tandem, it's been Prosvetov's net until he wasn't available. Now that Parks has three games of experience at this level under his belt though, does it change things? In addition, Ivan saw 38 shots last night and Varady said he wasn't thrilled with the amount his defense let get through, so with a travel day and a relatively quick turnaround for a Wednesday game in Bakersfield, does Parks get the green light for the first time at home tonight?

What's The Word?

Roadrunners Assistant Coach Steve Potvin on last night...

"I think we were actually the better team. I thought Colorado did a lot of good things, they're really strong in front of their net, they take that area personally and it's tough to get in there and to get second opportunities on their goalie. Again, they did some good things, but for the most part, our special teams did a good job."

Roadrunners Assistant Coach Steve Potvin on if it felt nice to see his power play post multiple goals...

"Definitely. Especially against a team like Colorado, they're not going to give you a lot of scoring chances five-on-five, so you really have to take advantage of those power play opportunities. It's an interesting league because there's so many moving pieces, there's guys going up and down, injuries, changing of positions and lots just constantly moving, so it's always a big challenge. You could see our sigh of relief to get going again tonight, but that doesn't mean it's going to be a freebie tonight."

Roadrunners Assistant Coach Steve Potvin on how the team intends on limiting Colorado's changes tonight...

"It starts with staying out of the box. We gave up five power play opportunities and that instantly makes it tougher on our goalie. He's got to constantly be on guard and that's tiring in itself. We also need to do a better job of not letting shots through. No free shots. If we look back on some of the shots they took, yeah, some of them came from the outside, but again, it's another opportunity for us to engage in the front of our net and we can't allow that to happen."

Number to Know

11. Brayden Burke finished the month of January with 11 points in 10 games, the third consecutive month he's performed at a point-per-game pace or better. How will he start his February tonight?

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.

Check out the Tucson Roadrunners Statistics

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