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AHL Tucson Roadrunners

Game 43 Preview: Tucson at Bakersfield

February 5, 2020 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Tucson Roadrunners News Release


Game #43 - Tucson (28-12-1-1) at Bakersfield (19-20-4-1)

7:30 PM MST, Mechanics Bank Arena, Bakersfield, CA

LISTEN LIVE Fox Sports 1450, iHeart Radio app

WATCH LIVE AHL TV

Referees: Ryan Hersey (#8), Andrew Howard (#50)

Linesmen: Eric McDonald (#24), Alec Rounds (#84)

The Roadrunners annual Gem Show Road Trip begins tonight in California, where they'll play five of their seven games over the course of the next 13 days.

Tonight, against the Condors, the AHL affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers, a team that came to Southern Arizona two weeks ago and handed Tucson the first of two losses on their current four-game skid. Things have changed since though and the team will seek to carry the positive momentum they've built since.

Three Things

1) As noted several times since January 24 & 25, the reason Tucson struggled against the Condors was due to their inability to create offense. The team totaled just 45 shots in the two games and was locked down by a stingy commitment to defense from the opposition. The positive news is that against Colorado, a team significantly higher in the standings than Bakersfield, the Roadrunners totaled 63, crossing the 30-margin both games. As a part of tonight's lineup, 2018 Arizona Coyotes #5 overall selection and IIHF World Juniors gold medal winner Barrett Hayton joins the team for conditioning loan. After suffering an upper-body injury during the tournament, Hayton took several weeks to recuperate and will now return to game action for the first time in exactly one month.

2) Two key figures that were a part of why Bakersfield was so successful in their recent trip to Tucson were AHL All-Star forward Tyler Benson and defenseman William Lagesson. Tonight, those two won't be a factor, as the parent Edmonton Oilers have since recalled both. Make no mistake about it though, the roster still features a few names that weren't a part of the 8-3 drubbing Tucson handed to the Condors at their last visit to Mechanics Bank Arena in November. A veteran of 330+ NHL games, Markus Granlund has been solid, as expected, since joining the team in December, now having 12 points in 12 games for Jay Woodcroft's club. Additionally, defenseman Brandon Manning, who has 255 NHL games on his resume, has now served his five-game suspension and will presumably reenter the lineup tonight for the Condors. I think it's safe to say that we will see games much closer to the one's we saw in Tucson tonight than what took place pre-American Thanksgiving.

3) With Darcy Kuemper not quite ready to go yet for the Coyotes, that means Adin Hill remains in Glendale and the goaltending tandem of Ivan Prosvetov and Tyler Parks will guide the Roadrunners into tonight's action for visiting side. Prosvetov played both games over the weekend but now has had three days to rest and recover, plus considering the off day tomorrow, it seems likely that we'll see him again tonight. Now the weekend may be a different situation, however, for those worried about Prosvetov's workload, he's often said that including playoffs last year, he played 65 games. Thus far this year, he's only on pace for 35 through the regular season, so his workload appears to be okay.

What's The Word?

Roadrunners forward Jeremy Gregoire on joining the team one year ago just prior to the start of the team's 2019 Gem Show Road Trip...

"It's been good memories so far. I remember getting to Rockford and not knowing anyone, not knowing what's going on, but I'm glad to be here from day one this year."

Roadrunners forward Jeremy Gregoire on if he senses the competition getting tougher now in the second half of the season, inching closer to playoffs...

"Especially after the All-Star Break. We know everyone is going to give more. We need to follow the train and we're not winning right now but I feel like we're doing the right things, so I do think that things are going to turn around."

Roadrunners forward Jeremy Gregoire on how the team is handling their recent adversity...

"You can't get frustrated. Even if things aren't going your way, you have to show that extra little bit of mental strength. I'm not saying we had it easy in the first part of the season, but it was going our way then. Now we need to grind a little harder to make it happen again."

Number to Know

7. Not the most glamorous stat we've revealed all season, but it's now been seven straight third periods that the Roadrunners have not scored in. Could that be snapped tonight? Of course. Combine that with the fact that Bakersfield allows the most goals of any period in the third and it could be a nice recipe for success 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, beginning at 6:00 PM with Roadrunners Happy Hour. Adrian will be joined by General Manager Steve Sullivan at 6:20 p.m. Live coverage will continue until the 7:30 p.m. face-off.

Check out the Tucson Roadrunners Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from February 5, 2020


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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