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AHL Tucson Roadrunners

Game 46 Preview: Tucson at Colorado

February 11, 2020 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Tucson Roadrunners News Release


Game #46 - Tucson (29-14-1-1) at Colorado (26-14-3-1)

7 PM MST, Budweiser Events Center, Loveland, CO

LISTEN LIVE Fox Sports 1450, iHeart Radio app

WATCH LIVE AHL TV

Referees: Mike Sheehan (#74), Riley Yerkovich (#37)

Linesmen: Lucas Bisbee (#86), Erik Contino (#53)

Tonight, a chance for win number 30.

Seeking to build off of the positive momentum built Saturday night in Ontario the team will now take on the AHL affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche, who are winners of their last four, including a weekend sweep over the San Jose Barracuda.

Three Things

1) Friday night in San Diego the team's effort was good, but the result wasn't what the team wanted. With a few cleaned up details, Saturday's effort was even better and the team got the result they wanted. Now, it's about sticking with what made them successful in those two games. What were they? A great start. The team got the first goals, dominated possession and heavily won the shots battle in both games. The next step was a consistent effort. Friday they gave up three in the middle period, Saturday they were the team with three in the middle period. Does the team HAVE to score three in the middle period to win tonight? No, of course not. Would it help? Yes. Would not allowing three in the middle help? Yes. Above the two, a good start in a difficult road building to play in is likely more imperative tonight.

2) A tough building and a tough opponent tonight, two-fold. Although we as a team haven't seen the entire AHL over the course of four years, there are presumably fewer buildings than that of Colorado where the environment truly does play to an advantage. Small, loud, almost always full, the Colorado fans bring it. A credit to them, for certain. On the ice, we know by now, this ninth time seeing them this season, that they're a team built from the blue line that capitalizes when provided chances on the offensive side of things. Their goaltenders aren't #1 and #2 in the league, so in the times where Tucson has had success against them, it's either been their offense being limited or their goaltenders having a subpar evening. One of the two doesn't have to happen tonight, but Tucson is a lot closer to a victory if one or both do.

3) Tyler Parks was tested 22 times Saturday in Ontario and earned his second AHL win in the effort. It's a grueling stretch right now and it was evident Ivan Prosvetov wouldn't be able to play every single game, thus the stepping in of Parks, who performed well and was only beaten once on a swift move. With that being said, both are expected to be available tonight. If it's Parks, he'll look to stay hot and earn two wins in a row for the first time ever and if it's Ivan, he'll be seeking his first win since January 18 in Ontario.

What's The Word?

Roadrunners defenseman Dysin Mayo on what went right in Saturday's win...

"We got back to our team identity and now it's just a matter of sticking with it. We need to remember what made us successful last game and use it these next two nights."

Roadrunners defenseman Dysin Mayo on what the difference was between Friday and Saturday and what changes for tonight...

"Friday, the first period we played how we wanted to, but then we got too confident with it and we got away from our game. So like I said, we'll just have to get back to our game and stick with that to be successful."

Roadrunners defenseman Dysin Mayo on the team's focus...

"We want to finish the road trip strong and obviously we have a few important games left, so we're not looking to the end of it just yet, but we know that they came into our building the last time we played them and took two wins from us. We're going to try and do the same to them here."

Number to Know

5. The power play has scored in five straight games, a season-high. Kudos to the group, they've been clicking and they'll be needed 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 7:45 PM.

Check out the Tucson Roadrunners Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from February 11, 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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