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Phoenix Plays 12 Out of Final 15 Games on the Road

March 9, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
Phoenix RoadRunners News Release


'RUNNERS REWIND: The Phoenix RoadRunners grabbed two of a possible six points last week after splitting a two-game set with Stockton and falling to Utah. With a record of 26-28-3 and 55 points, the RoadRunners sit in fifth place in the West Division six points behind fourth place Utah, and in eighth place in the National Conference, percentage points ahead of Bakersfield.

Tuesday, Mark O'Leary had two goals and an assist as he led the Phoenix RoadRunners over the Stockton Thunder 5-3 in front of 2,010 fans at US Airways Center.

Stockton (27-27-5) opened up scoring at 2:39 of the first period when Ryan MacMurchy caught RoadRunners' goalie Kyle Jones out of his net and scored from the right circle. Sebastien Bisaillon and Daryl Marcoux assisted. The RoadRunners (26-26-3) tied up the game at 5:07 when O'Leary passed the puck across the slot to James McEwan who scored to the left of Thunder goalie Andrew Perugini. Gord Burnett had the other assist. Phoenix took a 2-1 lead at 9:46 when O'Leary shot the puck off the glass and it bounced back to the net and in off of Perugini.

"We had a good start; the guys stepped up," RoadRunners' Head Coach Brad Church said. "The line of Guyer, O'Leary and McEwan was real good for us tonight."

The RoadRunners went up 3-1 at 3:52 of the second period when John McNabb scored off a rebound by Mitch Carefoot on the power play. Daniel Sisca also assisted. Stockton came within one goal of Phoenix at 7:15 when Mike Lalonde scored off a rebound on the power play with a two-man advantage. Ryan Huddy and Cory Urquhart had the assists. The RoadRunners took a 4-2 lead at 9:35 when O'Leary capitalized on a Thunder turnover and scored a wrap-around goal shorthanded.

"I'm a big believer in hockey being an honest game," Church said. "When you work hard and play hard, honest breaks go your way."

Matt Burke gave Phoenix a three-goal lead at 16:13 when he rifled a shot from the left point past Perugini. Carefoot and Merit Waldrop assisted as the RoadRunners took the lead into the locker room at intermission.

Stockton started the third period with a goaltender change, replacing Perugini with Bryan Pitton. The Thunder was able to score at 14:32 when MacMurchy capitalized on a RoadRunners' turnover and scored from the slot, but it wouldn't be enough as Phoenix held off Stockton for the win.

"We need to bring the same game (tomorrow night)," Church said of the rematch between the two teams Wednesday night. "This is a team we're in a playoff race with and we need to play smart and disciplined."

Stockton out-shot Phoenix 38-25. Jones stopped 25 shots to earn the victory and improve to 6-10-1 overall on the season. The RoadRunners went 1-5 on the power play while Stockton was 1-7 with the man-advantage.

Wednesday, Ryan Huddy tallied a pair of goals including the go-ahead and eventual game-winner with 5:19 remaining in regulation to lift the Stockton Thunder to a 5-3 win over the Phoenix RoadRunners before 2,186 at US Airways Center.

Stockton jumped out to a 2-0 first period lead only to watch the RoadRunners come back and tie it with a pair of power play goals before the period's end. The Thunder (28-27-5) struck twice in a span of 50 seconds to kick off the scoring receiving goals from Huddy and Sebastien Bisaillon at 5:58 and 6:48 respectively. The RoadRunners (26-27-5) responded with their first of two power play goals at 9:37 when Kimbi Daniels beat Stockton goalie Andrew Perugini with a shot from the left-wing circle to cut the deficit to 2-1. Jim Jorgensen later netted the equalizer at 15:32 on a two-man advantage as his shot from the left point got through traffic and past Perugini to tie the score at 2-2.

Following a scoreless second period, the RoadRunners jumped ahead eight minutes into the third when Daniels banged home Ashton Rome's rebound at 7:05 giving Phoenix a 3-2 lead. But it would be a short-lived lead as Mike Lalonde wrapped the puck around the RoadRunners' net and through goalie Kyle Jones at 9:30 on the power play to tie the game at 3-3. Huddy's goal would come just over five minutes later at 14:41 of the third as he beat Jones to the short side to give Stockton the lead back at 4-3. Cory Urquhart sealed the win with an empty-net goal at 18:53.

Stockton out-shot Phoenix 31-24. Jones stopped 26 shots but suffered the loss to fall to 6-11-1 overall on the season. The RoadRunners went 2-8 on the power play while Stockton was 1-4 with the man-advantage.

Sunday, Tyler Wooddisse's hat trick led the Utah Grizzles past the Phoenix RoadRunners 6-4 in front of 3,104 fans at US Airways Center.

The Grizzlies (23-22-15) opened up scoring first at 1:29 of the first period when Rob Hennigar scored backhanded on a rebound. Tim Verbeek and Tom May assisted. Utah took a 2-0 lead at 10:57 when Evan Kotsopoulos set up Wooddisse who scored from the left point. Goalie Mike Mole had the other assist. The RoadRunners (26-28-3) cut Utah's lead in half when Michael Wilson scored off a rebound at 16:02 on the power play. Gino Guyer and Merit Waldrop had the assists.

"I thought that it took us a while to get the rust off," RoadRunners' Assistant Coach Brian O'Leary said of the first period, adding that the team hadn't played since Wednesday and didn't have a practice skate yesterday. "Once we got into it though I thought we were pretty good."

Phoenix tied up the game at 2-2 at 8:41 of the second period when Wilson set up Mitch Carefoot for a two-on-one break with Gino Guyer and Carefoot netted the puck from the bottom left circle. The Grizzlies took the lead back 24 seconds later when Wooddisse took a shot from the point and the puck was deflected past RoadRunners' goalie Chris Beckford-Tseu at 9:05. Hennigar and May assisted. Phoenix was able to tie up the game again at 15:45 when John McNabb scored from the slot from Kimbi Daniels and Daniel Sisca.

"I have to give Mole credit. He stood on his head, especially in the second period," O'Leary said of the former RoadRunners' goalie. "We out-chanced them but we couldn't beat Mole."

The Grizzlies took a 4-3 lead at 1:18 of the third period when Beckford-Tseu was unable to find the puck on a rebound to cover it and Verbeek was able to find it and score. Hennigar and Tim Maxwell assisted. The RoadRunners tied the game at 3:47 when Waldrop passed the puck across the crease and Mark O'Leary scored to the left of Mole. Guyer also assisted.

"We never stopped working," O'Leary said. "Everyone understood the urgency of the situation we were in."

The RoadRunners had a chance to take the lead when Grizzly Jim Jenson took a five-minute major penalty with 5:36 left in regulation, but Utah was able to get a shorthanded goal at 18:28 when Wooddisse scored on a two-on-one break from Mike Walsh and Kotsopoulos. May sealed the victory for Utah when he scored an empty net goal at 19:32 from Hennigar and Verbeek.

"It's a tough thing to take," O'Leary said of the shorthanded goal by Wooddisse. "It's one mistake and it ends up in the back of the net."

Phoenix out-shot Utah 34-33. Beckford-Tseu stopped 27 shots but suffered the loss to fall to 1-3-1 overall on the season. The RoadRunners went 2-7 on the power play while Utah was 1-2 with the man-advantage.

HIGH FIVES: Forwards John McNabb and Daniel Sisca each extended their respective scoring streaks last week and both will be riding five-game streaks heading into play Wednesday at Alaska. McNabb has two goals and four assists dating back to Feb. 27, and has collected points in 22 out of his last 25 games to jump to sixth overall on the RoadRunners in scoring despite playing in just 33 games. Meanwhile, Sisca has two goals and six assists during his season-high scoring streak and has recorded 13 points in his last 17 games.

POWER PLAY IS BACK: Mired in a 2-31 slump on the power play, the RoadRunners have gone 7-26 (26.9%) on the man-advantage in their last four games to increase their overall power play efficiency to 14.1%. Phoenix has multiple power play goals in three out of their last four games after doing so in just eight out of their first 53 contests.

RECORDS WERE MEANT TO FALL: With their next win, the RoadRunners can match their ECHL club record for single season victories. Phoenix last had 27 wins back in the 2006-07 campaign, which was the only other season that the RoadRunners advanced to the playoffs. Phoenix is also on pace to easily break the mark for best overall single season winning percentage of .410% also set back in 2006-07.

KIMBI WATCH CONTINUES: Veteran center Kimbi Daniels needs just eight points in the final 15 games to pass teammate Daniel Sisca and set the RoadRunners' ECHL single season scoring record. Daniels tallied two goals and added an assist last week to improve his totals to 18 goals, 35 assists, and 53 points. The 18-year pro leads the RoadRunners with 16 multiple point efforts and is on pace to surpass his point production from last season. Daniels will play in his 900th professional regular season game Saturday at Alaska where he played his last eight seasons prior to this year.

PACK YOUR BAGS: Beginning Wednesday in Anchorage, the RoadRunners will play 12 of their final 15 games away from the friendly confines of US Airways Center. Phoenix will play four games in five nights at Alaska through Sunday, followed by a St. Patrick's Day affair Tuesday at Las Vegas. After a two-game home series against Alaska, the RoadRunners will then venture on a three-game trip March 21-24 to Ontario and Utah before coming home to host the Aces March 28 in the regular season home finale. Phoenix concludes the season with a four-game series at Idaho March 31-April 4.

NEWS & NOTES: Defenseman Michael Wilson returned to the RoadRunners' line-up from AHL Worcester Sunday for the first time since Dec. 3 and recorded a goal and an assist. Wilson was re-assigned back to Worcester immediately following the game...Defenseman Jeremy Swanson was loaned to AHL Toronto Sunday, increasing the total number of RoadRunners on either loan or recall to AHL clubs to 11...Phoenix set an ECHL club record Tuesday by recording their 16th home win of the season at US Airways Center...The RoadRunners also set another club record Tuesday by registering their 11th shorthanded goal of the season, surpassing the mark of 10 set back in 2006-07...Goalie Josh Tordjman became the third former RoadRunners' player and the 399th ECHL player to advance to the National Hockey League when he made his debut Sunday for the Phoenix Coyotes at the New York Islanders. Tordjman stopped 23 of 26 shots in a 3-2 loss.

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 begin a five-game road trip with a four-game series Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday against the Alaska Aces at Sullivan Arena. Face-off will be at 8:15 p.m. each night except Sunday, which will be a 4:05 p.m. start time. Catch Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday's action live on Independent 1310 KXAM, and all three 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.

PHOENIX ROADRUNNERS SCHEDULE WEEK OF MARCH 9TH

Monday, March 9: Travel day to Anchorage, Alaska

Tuesday, March 10: Practice TBA @ Sullivan Arena; Anchorage, Alaska

Wednesday, March 11: Morning skate 11:15AM-12:15PM; Phoenix @ Alaska 8:15PM

Thursday, March 12: Practice TBA @ Sullivan Arena; Anchorage, Alaska

Friday, March 13: Morning skate 11:15AM-12:15PM; Phoenix @ Alaska 8:15PM

Saturday, March 14: Morning skate 11:15AM-12:15PM; Phoenix @ Alaska 8:15PM

Sunday, March 15: Phoenix @ Alaska 4:05PM



ECHL Stories from March 9, 2009


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