Grinding Through The Stretch

February 27, 2006 - ECHL (ECHL)
Phoenix RoadRunners News Release


Phoenix, Ariz. - WEEK RECORD: 1-3-0 - SEASON RECORD: 18-31-3 - 6th WEST DIVISION

‘RUNNERS REWIND: The Phoenix RoadRunners began last week with a big victory over the Utah Grizzlies, only to drop their next three games and fall out of fifth place. Despite their struggles, the RoadRunners are still just three points behind Victoria for fifth place in the West Division with two games in hand.

Tuesday, The Phoenix RoadRunners scored four power play goals led by Dave Cousineau's two tallies to knock off the Utah Grizzlies 5-2 before 3,254 at US Airways Center.

In a wild first period that saw a total of four goals, it was the Grizzlies (29-20-4) who struck first. Louis Dumont slipped behind the RoadRunners defense, broke in alone on goaltender Mike Mole, and beat Mole through his pads along the ice at 13:15 of the period to give Utah a 1-0 lead. Phoenix (18-28-3) would counter with a power play goal at 16:26 when Shaun Fisher found Mike Ouellet at the right-wing circle, and Ouellet pushed the puck off Utah goaltender Justin Eddy's blocker and into the net to tie the game 1-1. Former RoadRunner defenseman Ed Hill grabbed the lead right back for Utah 49 seconds later with a power play goal from the left point to give Utah a 2-1 advantage. But the RoadRunners would net the equalizer just before the period expired as Justin Quenneville pushed Miguel Lafleche's face-off win over to Cousineau and Cousineau ripped a slap shot past Eddy at 19:59 to tie the game at 2-2 to end the first period.

Phoenix would continue their power play assault in the second period. Cousineau netted his second of the game on the power play when he curled in front of the net and flipped a backhand shot over Eddy at 5:49 to give the RoadRunners a 3-2 lead. Ben Knopp made it a 4-2 Phoenix advantage just 22 seconds later at 6:11 on the power play when he beat Eddy through the pads with a slap shot from the left wing circle. Shawn Snider capped the scoring at 14:40 when he finished off a terrific passing sequence between J-F Soucy and Shaun Fisher to make it a 5-2 game after two periods.

Utah out-shot Phoenix 42-34. Mole stopped 40 shots to improve to 14-21-3 on the season. The RoadRunners finished four of six on the power play and held the Grizzlies to just one power play goal on six chances.

Friday, goaltender Tom Lawson stopped all 30 shots he faced and Steve Hildenbrand tallied a pair of goals to lead the San Diego Gulls to a 3-0 victory over the Phoenix RoadRunners before 5,438 at US Airways Center.

Following a scoreless first period, San Diego (21-23-5) struck first with a power play goal at 13:52 of the second. Jesse Bennefield's pass from inside the left-wing circle found the tape of Steve Hildenbrand at the top of the crease who pushed the puck off the cross-bar and behind RoadRunners goaltender Ryan Cyr to give the Gulls a 1-0 lead.

Hildenbrand netted his second of the game just seconds after a Phoenix (18-29-3) power play had expired to open the third period. Hildenbrand collected the loose puck off Shaun Fisher's blocked shot, broke in on the right-wing, and beat Cyr with a slap shot over the blocker side 50 seconds into the third to extend the lead to 2-0.

Pierre-Luc Sleigher capped the scoring with an empty-net goal at 19:52.

San Diego out-shot Phoenix 43-30. Cyr turned aside 41 shots but fell to 0-6-0 on the season. Lawson collected his second shutout of the year and improved to 12-13-2. The RoadRunners went 0-7 on the power play while San Diego was 1-13 on the man advantage.

Saturday, Cory Urquhart scored with 48.8 seconds left in regulation and the Long Beach Ice Dogs scored twice in the final five minutes to defeat the Phoenix RoadRunners 4-3 before 4,822 at the Long Beach Arena in ECHL action Saturday.

Long Beach (30-18-6) opened the first period with a pair of goals. Michael Lambert started the scoring at 11:46 when he ripped a slap shot past RoadRunners goaltender Mike Mole from the left-wing circle to give the Ice Dogs a 1-0 lead. Christian Larrivee extended the lead with a power play goal at 13:34. Camped out at the top of Mole's crease, Larrivee jammed Sean McAslan's centering pass into the back of the net to make it 2-0 at the end of twenty minutes.

The RoadRunners (18-30-3) though would strike three times in a span of 4:53 seconds to open the second period to take a 3-2 lead after two periods. Mike Ouellet got the RoadRunners on the board just 1:43 into the second when he collected Justin Quenneville's rebound at the near side of the cage and tipped the puck through Long Beach goaltender Mark Scally to cut the deficit to 2-1. J-F Soucy netted the equalizer at 4:42 after jamming Paul Ballantyne's rebound by Scally to tie the game at 2-2. Ben Knopp then gave the RoadRunners their first lead of the game at 6:36 when he finished off Jake Riddle's scoring chance, beating Scally with a shot to the upper right corner of the net.

Yet despite being outplayed since the first period, the Ice Dogs would find a way to pull out the victory. McAslan tied the game at 3-3 when he re-directed Steeve Villeneuve's slap shot from the point by Mole at 15:07. Urquhart netted the game-winner when, left alone in the slot, he accepted a centering pass from Lambert and slapped the puck past Mole with less than a minute to go to steal the win.

Long Beach out-shot Phoenix 37-23. Mole stopped 33 shots but fell to 14-22-3 on the season. The RoadRunners went 0-4 on the power play while the Ice Dogs were 2-4 on the man advantage.

Sunday, Alfie Michaud stopped all 48 shots he faced and Ryan Kinasewich tallied a goal and added three assists to lead the Utah Grizzlies to a 4-0 shutout victory over the Phoenix RoadRunners before 3,758 at US Airways Center in ECHL action Sunday.

After a scoreless first 13 minutes, Utah (32-20-5) exploded for three goals. Louis Dumont opened the barrage with a two-man advantage power play goal at 13:59 from the left-wing circle on a one-time slap shot. Kinasewich extended the lead to 2-0 when he slipped behind a RoadRunners defenseman in the slot, accepted the pass from Dumont, and tucked a backhand shot behind RoadRunners goaltender Mike Mole at 15:53. Barret Eghoetz finished the scoring at 18:36 when he tipped Garett Cameron's pass across the crease by Mole to make it 3-0 at the end of the first period.

Despite the RoadRunners (18-31-3) out-shooting Utah 23-10 in the second period, it was Colt King who gave the Grizzlies a 4-0 lead with a power play goal at 19:42. King took Dumont's pass in the slot and pushed the puck past Mole for the tally.

The RoadRunners out-shot Utah 48-28. Mole stopped 24 shots in falling to 14-23-3 on the season. Phoenix went 0-5 on the power play while the Grizzlies went 2-5 on the man advantage.

BOMBS AWAY: The RoadRunners out-shot Utah 35-16 over the final two periods in Sunday's loss to set a new season-high with 48 shots on goal. Phoenix broke their previous season-high of 47 which they set back on February 3 in Pensacola. The 23 shots in the second period was also a season-high for shots on goal in a period.

SPREADING THE WEALTH: 13 different players on the RoadRunners roster this season have registered a game-winning goal. Defenseman Dave Cousineau became the latest when he potted the game-winner in Tuesday's victory over Utah. In addition, seven different players have recorded two-goal games while eight different players have enjoyed three-point games.

MARCH MADNESS: The RoadRunners will play 16 games over 31 days during the month of March, their busiest month by far this season as they make a final push towards the ECHL Kelly Cup Playoffs. 10 of those 16 games will also be on the road where the RoadRunners have won five out of their last eight games. Phoenix will be visiting the Golden Bear State of California during three of the four weekends in March as they head to Fresno, Bakersfield, Stockton, and San Diego. Meanwhile the RoadRunners will host a pair of games against Stockton (March 7-8), a pair of games against division-rival Las Vegas (March 14 & 16), and showdowns with the Victoria Salmon Kings (March 20) and Bakersfield Condors (March 22) at US Airways Center.

‘RUNNERS READING ACROSS MARICOPA COUNTY: The Phoenix RoadRunners are taking part in this year's "Read Across America Week." RoadRunners' Mike Mole, Shawn Snider, Dusty Demianiuk, Ben Knopp, Ryan Cyr, Brad Woods, and Jake Riddle read to students this afternoon at Camelview Elementary, Heatherbrae Elementary, and Thew Elementary. Players will also be reading to students on Monday, March 6 at John F. Long Elementary School (4407 North 55th Avenue; Phoenix), Ironwood Elementary School (14850 North 39th Avenue; Phoenix), and Holiday Park Elementary School (4417 North 66th Avenue; Phoenix). Additional schools and further details regarding times of appearances will be released later this week.

UPCOMING ROADRUNNERS PROMOTIONS: RoadRunners Night at the Movies takes place this Wednesday at all participating Harkins Theaters. Show your RoadRunners pride at any Valley location Harkins Theater and receive free popcorn! Just go to guest relations wearing a RoadRunners jersey or T-shirt for your free popcorn coupon. Thanks to Harkins Theaters and go ‘Runners.

The RoadRunners welcome the Stockton Thunder to US Airways Center at 7:11PM on Tuesday, March 7. It's Krispy Kreme Night, and the first 2,000 fans will receive a calendar filled with coupons and discounts presented by Krispy Kreme.

For more information or to order tickets, call (602) 462-GOAL.

WATCH THE ‘RUNNERS LIVE IN '05-06: The RoadRunners have teamed up with B2 Networks to bring you live action of Phoenix RoadRunners hockey in 2005-06. RoadRunners fans will be able to click the "Watch Online" link at www.phxroadrunners.com to view and listen to the game. These broadcasts are available to fans for a charge of $6 per game. All 36 RoadRunners home broadcasts will be available in addition to over 25 road games in Alaska, Idaho, Pensacola, Las Vegas, San Diego, Utah, and Bakersfield. A cable or DSL Internet connection and Windows Media Player 9 are required to view the games.

UP NEXT: The RoadRunners make their one and only trip to Boise, Idaho this week as they battle the Idaho Steelheads in a three-game series at 7:10PM Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday from Qwest Arena. Catch all three games live on News Talk Radio 1100AM KFNX and Pro Sports Radio beginning with "RoadRunners Countdown" 20 minutes prior to the opening face-off.



ECHL Stories from February 27, 2006


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