Phoenix Continues Playoff Drive with Four Games This Week

February 23, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
Phoenix RoadRunners News Release


'RUNNERS REWIND: The Phoenix RoadRunners returned to US Airways Center on a high Saturday defeating the Alaska Aces to complete a 2-1 week that saw the culmination of a season-high eight-game road trip. With a record of 23-24-3 and 49 points, the RoadRunners sit in fifth place in the West Division six points behind fourth place Utah, and in ninth place in the National Conference.

Monday, Merit Waldrop snapped a 1-1 tie with a power play goal with 9:50 remaining in regulation and the Phoenix RoadRunners won in Las Vegas for the first time in eight tries as they defeated the Wranglers 2-1 before 3,693 at the Orleans Arena in ECHL action on President's Day.

Following a scoreless first period, the teams traded goals in the second. Las Vegas (26-20-5) got on the board at 6:09 on the power play when Tyler Mosienko punched home Sean Owens' rebound past RoadRunners' goalie Kyle Jones for a 1-0 lead. The RoadRunners (22-23-3) netted the equalizer less than four minutes later as Jim Jorgensen checking out of the penalty box took a lead pass from Gino Guyer and beat Wranglers' goalie Glenn Fisher over the glove with a shot at 9:38 to tie the score at 1-1.

It would stay that way until midway through the third when the RoadRunners scored the game-winner on the power play. Waldrop picked up Kimbi Daniels' rebound at the top of the crease and slid it through Fisher's pads and into the net at 10:10. Jones did the rest turning aside the final five Wranglers' shots to preserve the win.

The RoadRunners out-shot Las Vegas 39-23. Jones stopped 22 shots and picked up the win to improve to 3-9-1 on the season. The RoadRunners went 1-8 on the power play while Las Vegas was 1-6 with the man-advantage.

Friday, Kellen Briggs turned aside all 33 shots he saw and Bud Holloway scored the game's only goal in the third period to lift the Ontario Reign to a 1-0 shutout victory over the Phoenix RoadRunners before 6,374 at Citizens Business Bank Arena.

The RoadRunners (22-24-3) and Reign (29-19-4) played a scoreless first two periods. Phoenix out-shot Ontario 14-9 in the opening frame, but the Reign came back to out-shoot the RoadRunners 9-6 in the middle period. Ontario also wasted a four-minute power play at the midway point of the second period.

Holloway gave the Reign all the scoring on the night they would need just 1:16 into the third period as he took Jon Francisco's face-off win, moved into the slot, and snapped the puck over Kyle Jones' blocker and into the net for a 1-0 advantage. Briggs did the rest stopping 12 RoadRunners shots in the final period.

The RoadRunners out-shot Ontario 33-22. Jones stopped 21 shots but suffered the loss to fall to 3-10-1 on the season. The RoadRunners went 0-4 on the power play while Ontario was 0-5 with the man-advantage.

Saturday, John McNabb had two goals and an assist as the Phoenix RoadRunners defeated the Alaska Aces 5-2 Saturday night in front of a season-high 5,096 fans at US Airways Center.

The Aces (30-20-3) opened up scoring at 9:33 of the first period when Nick Tuzzolino fed a pass to Luke Erickson who scored on a breakaway over RoadRunners' goalie Kyle Jones' glove. Phoenix (23-24-3) tied the game at 1-1 at 12:17 when McNabb slid the puck under the pads of Alaska goalie Kevin Nastiuk. Daniel Sisca and Ashton Rome assisted as the tie would hold through the first intermission.

"I thought we played a little sluggish in the first period," said RoadRunners' Head Coach Brad Church. "(But) we've been playing well the last 10 games and were able to capitalize on scoring chances."

The RoadRunners took a 2-1 lead at 5:08 of the second period when Rome scored from the bottom left circle with Dane Crowley and McNabb assisting. Gino Guyer scored just over three minutes later when he netted the puck through Nastiuk's five-hole at 8:26. Mark O'Leary and Dan DaSilva assisted. Then at 12:46 McNabb gave Phoenix a 4-1 lead with Sisca and Rome getting the assists.

"Jones has been playing well for us," Church said. "He's battled all year long and it's finally nice to see him get some wins under his belt."

The Aces were able to narrow the RoadRunners' lead to two goals at 16:34 when Brett Hemingway scored to the left of Jones in an open net with two-man advantage. Matt Stefanishion and Matt Shasby assisted. O'Leary gave Phoenix a 5-2 lead at 12:59 of the third period off a pass from DaSilva. Guyer also assisted as that would remain the final score.

"It's always nice to see a big crowd; it gets the guys jacked up to play," Church said. "It's great when you have a vibrant atmosphere to play in."

The RoadRunners out-shot Alaska 38-30. Jones stopped 28 shots to improve to 4-10-1 on the season. The RoadRunners went 0-7 on the power play while Alaska was 1-5 with the man-advantage.

WELCOME BACK HOME: The RoadRunners returned to the Valley of the Sun Saturday after going 4-4-0 on their 16-day, 4,751 mile road trip that took them from Utah to Las Vegas to Idaho back to Las Vegas and finally to Ontario (with a couple of brief stops in Phoenix along the way). Phoenix and their opponents each scored 20 goals during the trip, but the RoadRunners out-shot the opposition significantly 269-228 firing an average of 33.6 shots per game while giving up only 28.5 shots on average per contest. The RoadRunners finished the trip allowing less than 30 in each of their last four games, and setting season-lows for shots allowed in consecutive games Monday (23) and Friday (22).

CLOSING IN ON A RECORD: The RoadRunners next victory at home will match their club record for home wins in a single season of 15 set back in 2006-07. The RoadRunners have truly enjoyed a home-ice advantage this season having outscored their opponents 90-86, executing at 15.1% on the power play (2% better than their overall power play numbers), and maintaining an 87.1% efficiency rate on the penalty kill all at home.

HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN 67 ALL ALONG: Wearing #67 Saturday, veteran forward John McNabb bagged a pair of goals and an assist for his second three-point game in a RoadRunners' uniform this year. McNabb has a point in five out of his last six games and overall has scored five goals and added two assists during that stretch.

JONES STANDS TALL: Rookie goalie Kyle Jones has filled in admirably for departed goalie Craig Kowalski. Jones is 3-2-0 in his last five starts and has allowed just nine goals on 130 shots, which translates to an impressive 1.80 goals against average and a .930% save percentage.

NEWS & NOTES: The RoadRunners have allowed 30 shots or less in each of their last six games...Center Kimbi Daniels met his former club Alaska Saturday for the first time since signing with the RoadRunners as a free agent during the off-season. Daniels played eight seasons with both the Alaska Aces of the ECHL and the Anchorage Aces of the former West Coast Hockey League where he averaged nearly a point per game during his tenure with 172 goals, 301 assists, and 473 points in 486 regular season games...Center Gino Guyer has four goals and eight points during the month of February...Defenseman Jim Jorgensen and Center Merit Waldrop are tied for team lead in plus-minus rating with a plus-eight on the year.

WATCH THE 'RUNNERS LIVE IN '08-09: The RoadRunners have teamed up with B2 Networks to bring you live action of Phoenix RoadRunners hockey in 2008-09. 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 72 RoadRunners broadcasts will be available on-line. A cable or DSL Internet connection and Windows Media Player 9 are required to view the games.

UP NEXT: The RoadRunners host the Las Vegas Wranglers at 7:05 p.m. Monday and welcome the Ontario Reign at 7:05 p.m. Thursday and the Bakersfield Condors at 7:05 p.m. Saturday to US Airways Center, while visiting the Reign at 8:00 p.m. Friday at Citizens Business Bank Arena. Catch Friday's and Saturday's action live on Independent 1310 KXAM and all four games live at www.phxroadrunners.com beginning with "RoadRunners Countdown" twenty minutes prior to face-off. Information on season tickets, half-season packages, and flex plans for the 2008-09 season of Phoenix RoadRunners Hockey are available by calling (602) 462-GOAL.



ECHL Stories from February 23, 2009


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