Phoenix Hosts Stockton Tuesday and Thursday at US Airways Center

January 5, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
Phoenix RoadRunners News Release


'RUNNERS REWIND: The Phoenix RoadRunners shutout the visiting Bakersfield Condors 5-0 Tuesday in their only game of the week. With a record of 13-13-3 and 29 points, the RoadRunners sit in a two-way tie with the Utah Grizzlies for fourth place in the West Division and in a three-way tie for sixth overall in the National Conference.

Tuesday, John McNabb scored a pair of goals and added two assists, and Craig Kowalski had a shutout as they led the Phoenix RoadRunners over the Bakersfield Condors 5-0 in front of 3,337 fans at US Airways Center.

The RoadRunners (13-13-3) opened up scoring at 14:09 of the first period when McNabb scored top-shelf on Condor goalie Ryan Nie from the left circle off a rebound from Ashton Rome. Gino Guyer had the other assist as Phoenix took a 1-0 lead. Rome gave the RoadRunners a 2-0 lead with 38 seconds left in the period when he scored from the slot from Brett Peterson and McNabb. Phoenix would take the two-goal lead into the first intermission as they out-shot the Condors (11-15-4) 23-9.

"Defensively we've been pretty strong the last five games," RoadRunners Head Coach Brad Church said. "We've put an emphasis on the start of the game and put a lot of pucks on net and that's made a big difference."

At 6:56 of the second period McNabb gave the RoadRunners a 3-0 lead when he scored from Rome and Guyer to the right of Nie. Rome notched his second tally of the game with 17 seconds left in the second when he scored off a deflection by a shot from McNabb giving Phoenix a 4-0 lead to take into the locker room after two periods.

"We brought (McNabb) here to produce," Church said. "It's nice to see him break out of his slump and it's a good sign for the team."

The RoadRunners took a commanding 5-0 lead in the third period when Daniels scored at 13:46. Daniel Sisca and Matt Burke assisted as that would be the final score.

"We're collectively focused on keeping the shot count (against us) down," Church said, adding that the goaltenders have been playing well. "We're controlling the neutral zone better and our defense has been strong."

Kowalski improved to 10-9-1 on the season. The RoadRunners went 0-4 on the power play while Bakersfield was 0-3 with the man-advantage.

OFFENSE AWAKENS FROM ITS SLUMBER: The five goals scored by the RoadRunners Tuesday was their most since notching six in a victory on Dec. 3 against Las Vegas, and marked the fifth time this season that the RoadRunners have scored five goals or more in a single game. Prior to Tuesday's outburst, Phoenix had scored just 10 goals in their previous seven games, or a paltry 1.42 goals per game, and had scored more than two goals only once during that stretch.

BOMBS AWAY: The RoadRunners out-shot Bakersfield by a more than two-to-one margin 23-9 in the opening period Tuesday and 45-27 for the game. The 18-shot differential was the RoadRunners' largest of the season surpassing the 11-shot differential of 38-27 back on Dec. 5 against Las Vegas. The 45 total shots also came one shy of matching the RoadRunners' season-high for shots in a game of 46 set back on Nov. 21 also against the Condors. Phoenix is averaging 36.5 shots per game this season against Bakersfield, as opposed to 31.32 shots per game against the rest of the ECHL.

KOWALSKI SHUTS THE DOOR: Goalie Craig Kowalski earned his first shutout in a RoadRunners uniform Tuesday and the ninth shutout of his five-year career. Kowalski is coming off a very solid month of December after compiling a 4-3-0 record in six starts and seven appearances with a 2.06 goals against average and a .941% save percentage. Kowalski is 9-4-1 at home this season with a 2.53 goals against average and a .935% save percentage.

MCNAB-BING A COUPLE OF GOALS: Forward John McNabb scored his first two goals in a RoadRunners uniform Tuesday and tripled his point production for the season in one game with four points total. McNabb now has six points in eight games since signing with the RoadRunners on Dec. 11. The goals Tuesday were his first in six weeks after not scoring since Nov. 14 as a member of the Corpus Christi Ice Rays of the Central Hockey League.

NEWS & NOTES: The RoadRunners finished December with a 4-5-1 record. Kimbi Daniels led the club in scoring with three goals and nine points in 10 games. Ashton Rome tallied five goals and eight points in 10 games...Phoenix improved to 11-6-2 at home and 9-6-3 against the Pacific Division Tuesday...The RoadRunners have surrendered the fewest home power play goals (nine) in the ECHL and their 92.1% penalty kill efficiency rate at home is the best in the league. Phoenix has killed off 82 of their opponents' 90 power play attempts over the last 13 games and has not allowed a power play goal in 15 out of 29 games this season...The RoadRunners tied a season-low with just three minor penalties and six penalty minutes Tuesday, a far cry from their ECHL-leading 8.13 minor penalties and 27.14 penalty minutes per game clip.

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 will host the Stockton Thunder for a two-game series at 7:05 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday at US Airways Center. Phoenix's originally scheduled game Friday at Bakersfield has been cancelled. A revised 2008-09 ECHL schedule has not been released as of this time. Catch Tuesday and Thursday's 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 January 5, 2009


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