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Tucson Roadrunners

Roadrunners Beat San Jose 5-1 to Open Weekend

December 1, 2023 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Tucson Roadrunners News Release


Tucson Roadrunners' Josh Doan on game night
Tucson Roadrunners' Josh Doan on game night
(Tucson Roadrunners, Credit: Lucas Ault, Tucson Roadrunners)

TUCSON, AZ - Without a lot of water in Tucson, the San Jose Barracuda drowned early, losing 5-1 on Friday night at Tucson Arena as the Roadrunners improved to 11-6-1-1 on the year.

The Roadrunners came out in period one like a Barracuda out of water. Just 1:34 into the game Josh Doan was given a penalty-shot and took advantage. A great move in front of the net would give Tucson the early 1-0 lead and Doan his team-leading eighth goal of the season. At the 11:02 mark it would be Josh Doan again scoring his second goal of the period on a power-play and the ultimate game-winning goal for the Roadrunners. Doan was assisted by Dylan Guenther and Patrik Koch. The quick 2-0 start wouldn't satisfy the Roadrunners after Zach Sanford would find the back of the net adding an insurance goal. It was Sanford's first goal of the season, and he was assisted by Jan Jenik and John Leonard. A minute and a half later Travis Barron would join the scoring party and give Tucson the 4-0 lead with just over a minute left in the first period. Aku Raty and Curtis Douglas picked up assists. The four Roadrunners goals in period one marked the first time this season that Tucson has had a four-goal period. Tucson controlled the puck well through the full twenty minutes, only allowing three San Jose shots on goal and stacking up 15.

In the second it was Victor Soderstrom getting his piece of the pie and lighting the lamp for Tucson. A San Jose hooking penalty would lead to a power-play for the Roadrunners and Soderstrom put the puck in the back of the net. John Leonard picked up his second assist of the night and Austin Poganski picked up his first. The Roadrunners would get another power-play chance at the 10:51 mark but would come up empty. A 5-0 Tucson lead would have the Roadrunners faithful on their feet as the two sides headed to the locker rooms for the second intermission.

A slashing minor on Tucson would lead to the lone San Jose goal of the evening in the third period. Following the San Jose power-play goal things would get chippy. Curtis Douglas and Cameron Hebig would be assessed roughing minors at the 7:11 mark as well as a roughing on Ethan Caldwell of San Jose. The Roadrunners would kill off the Barracuda power-play. Just over a minute later, misconducts would be handed out to both Tucson and San Jose. Curtis Douglas would drop the gloves at the 14:14 mark and the crazy final period would continue. Tucson would escape the chaotic period with a 5-1 victory to improve to 11-6-1-1 on the year. The two teams square off again Saturday evening at 7:00pm from the Tucson Arena.

"To do what we did tonight was fun. Credit to a lot of guys who stepped up. Every game we have to show up ready to go" said Forward Travis Barron after Tucson's 5-1 victory on Friday evening.

Check out the Tucson Roadrunners Statistics




Images from this story

Tucson Roadrunners' Josh Doan on game night
Tucson Roadrunners' Josh Doan on game night
(Lucas Ault, Tucson Roadrunners)		   

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