Sports stats

RoadRunners' big rallies mark wild week

November 24, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Phoenix RoadRunners News Release


'RUNNERS REWIND: The Phoenix RoadRunners grabbed six of a possible 10 points last week following their busiest schedule to date with five games in six nights. With a record of 9-7-2 and 20 points, the RoadRunners are currently in sole possession of second place in the West Division and third in the National Conference.

Tuesday, Ashton Rome scored a hat trick and added another goal in the shootout to lead the Phoenix RoadRunners past the Las Vegas Wranglers 7-6 in front of 2,085 fans at US Airways Center.

The RoadRunners (7-5-2) opened up the scoring right away when Rome scored 10 seconds into the game off a pass from Matt Fornataro. Dane Crowley had the other assist as Phoenix took an early 1-0 lead.

The Wranglers (5-6-2) came back quickly, however, when Justin Taylor scored at 2:37 from the left of RoadRunner goalie Kyle Jones. Shawn Limpright had the assist on the goal that tied the game 1-1. Just over a minute later Phoenix took a 2-1 when Fornataro scored an unassisted goal that went over the left shoulder of Wrangler goalie Brent Krahn at 3:55. Tyler Mosienko tied up the game for Las Vegas again, though, when he scored off a rebound from in front of the crease at 17:39. Chris Neiszner and Bret Tyler had the assists as the Wranglers outshot the RoadRunners 17-9 going into the first intermission.

The Wranglers took their first lead of the game when Neiszner scored right in front of Jones at 7:56 of the second period. J.D. Watt and Limpright had the assists as Las Vegas went up 3-2. The RoadRunners tied the game at 3-3 when Mitch Carefoot scored off a rebound with Krahn sprawling across the crease at 13:08. Kimbi Daniels and Michael Wilson assisted as the tie would hold through the end of the period.

Phoenix came out in the third period with a goal by Rome who scored top-shelf off a pass from Fornataro at 2:45. Brett Peterson had the other assist at the RoadRunners took a 4-3 lead. The Wranglers tied the game at 4-4 at 8:37 when Limpright scored a goal that was assisted by Hugo Carpentier and Jason Dest.

The Wranglers took a 5-4 lead when Neiszner scored from the right of Jones at 13:17. Tyler and Mosienko assisted. Neiszner gave Las Vegas a 6-4 lead when he scored his third goal of the game at 17:18. The RoadRunners came back, however, at 18:14 when Rome scored his third of the game right after a faceoff. Daniel Sisca had the assist as the Wranglers still held a 6-5 lead. Then with Jones pulled, Phoenix was able to tie up the game and force overtime when Mitch Carefoot scored off a pass from Merit Waldrop.

Overtime was scoreless as Las Vegas outshot Phoenix 4-3, forcing a shootout. The RoadRunners won the shootout 3-1 as Waldrop scored the winner with the other two goals coming from Rome and Daniels.

Las Vegas out-shot Phoenix 41-33. Jones made 35 saves to improve to 1-0-0 on the season. The RoadRunners went 0-3 with the power play while Las Vegas was 0-3 with the man-advantage.

Wednesday, Dave Bonk scored two goals including the game-winner as he lifted the Bakersfield Condors past the Phoenix RoadRunners 5-3 in front of 2,636 fans at US Airways Center.

The RoadRunners (7-6-2) got on the board first at 5:13 of the first period when Ashton Rome centered a pass to Matt Fornataro who scored from the slot on the power play. Daniel Sisca had the other assist as Phoenix went up 1-0.

The Condors (6-7-1) came back to tie up the game at 13:21 on the power play when Bonk scored off a rebound to the left of RoadRunners' goalie Craig Kowalski. Mark Derlago and Matt Pope had the assists. The score remained tied at 1-1 going into the first intermission as Bakersfield outshot the RoadRunners 13-5.

It was the Condors that came out first in the second period when Martin Frechette scored 5-hole on Kowalski from the slot at 1:53. Matt Caruana assisted as Bakersfield went up 2-1. Then at 9:28 Pope got the puck under Kowalski and in the back of the net to give the Condors a 3-1 lead. Derlago and Ryan Mahrle had the assists as the score would remain the same through the second intermission.

Bonk opened up scoring 59 seconds into the third period for Bakersfield when he netted the puck top-shelf off a rebound by Frechette, giving the Condors a 4-1 advantage. Then just over a minute later Mahrle scored at 2:06 from Chad Painchaud off a Phoenix turnover, making the score 5-1 Bakersfield.

The RoadRunners got another tally at 8:42 when Michael Wilson scored a power play goal from Rome and Fornataro, narrowing the Condors' lead to three goals. Gino Guyer added another goal for Phoenix at 11:48 when he rifled a shot past Condor goalie Dave McKee from the slot. Chris Stevens assisted, but Bakersfield still held a 5-3 lead and would hold off the RoadRunners for the final eight minutes.

Bakersfield out-shot Phoenix 45-31. Kowalski made 40 saves but fell to 4-5-1 on the season. The RoadRunners went 2-6 with the power play while Bakersfield was 1-6 with the man-advantage.

Friday, Dan DaSilva had two goals and four points as he led the Phoenix RoadRunners past the Bakersfield Condors 7-6 in a come-from-behind, overtime victory in front of a season-high 4,858 fans at US Airways Center.

The Condors (6-7-2) opened up scoring when Matt Caruana scored off a rebound at 3:38 of the first period. Dave Bonk and Dale Reinhardt had the assists as Bakersfield took a 1-0 lead. Matt Pope gave the Condors a 2-0 advantage when he netted the biscuit past RoadRunner goalie Kyle Jones on the power play at 12:30. Mark Derlago and Bonk had the assists.

Then at 15:03 Martin Frechette scored a one-timer goal off a pass from Chad Painchaud, giving Bakersfield a 3-0 lead. Derlago added the other assist. The Condors capped off the first period scoring at 18:32 when Derlago scored four seconds after the RoadRunners (8-6-2) killed a penalty. Tom Morrow and Bonk assisted as Bakersfield took a 4-0 lead into the locker room after 20 minutes of play.

The RoadRunners began the second period with a goaltender change, replacing Jones with Craig Kowalski. At 1:36 they finally got on the board when DaSilva scored a 5-on-3 power play goal. Peder Skinner and Kimbi Daniels assisted. Then 52 seconds later, Matt Fornataro scored a power play goal off a pass from Ashton Rome at 2:28, narrowing Bakersfield's lead to two goals. Daniels had the other assist.

Phoenix was able to score again before time ran out in the second when Rome rifled a shot past Condor goalie Dave McKee from the right circle. Fornataro and Daniel Sisca assisted as the score was 4-3 Bakersfield going into the second intermission.

The Condors scored first in the third period when Painchaud got the puck past Kowalski at 7:19 on a power play. Derlago and Ryan Mahrle had the assists as Bakersfield took a 5-3 lead. Phoenix came back less than two minutes later, however, when Daniels scored top-shelf from the bottom left circle at 9:13. DaSilva and Skinner had the assists.

The RoadRunners were able to tie up the game at 5-5 at 17:46 when Rome scored from Fornataro and Dane Crowley. Then at 19:03, Phoenix took a 6-5 lead when DaSilva stuffed the puck in the net from the right of McKee. Daniels and Michael Wilson assisted. The Condors tied it up 20 seconds later, though, when Caruana scored from Derlago and Pope at 19:23, forcing overtime.

The overtime period was filled with back-and-forth action until Crowley scored off a pass from DaSilva with two seconds left from the bottom right circle. Brett Peterson had the other assist as the RoadRunners won 7-6.

Bakersfield out-shot Phoenix 47-46. Kowalski made 26 saves to improve to 5-5-1 on the season. The RoadRunners went 2-2 with the power play while Bakersfield was 2-5 with the man-advantage.

Saturday, Kimbi Daniels scored a pair of shorthanded goals and Craig Kowalski made 40 saves as the Phoenix RoadRunners held off the Bakersfield Condors 3-2 before 6,655 at Rabobank Arena.

Following a scoreless fist period, the RoadRunners' (9-6-2) special teams' went to work. Down two men with Bakersfield (6-8-2) on a four-on-three power play, Matt Burke fed the puck ahead to Daniels who had beaten the Condors defense down the ice and he slipped the puck behind Condors goalie Ryan Nie at 11:27 of the second for a 1-0 lead. Daniels then extended the RoadRunners' advantage to two when he stripped Martin Frechette of the puck at the RoadRunners blue line with the Condors on another power play, cruised down the ice by himself, and slapped the puck past Nie at 16:18 for his second shorthanded goal of the period.

Charlie Kronschnabel pulled Bakersfield to within a single tally when he scored his second goal of the year at 56 seconds of the third period. But Gino Guyer gave the RoadRunners their two goal lead right back when he pulled Nie out of position from the left-wing circle and slapped the puck to the opposite corner of the net at 11:30 for a 3-1 advantage. Mark Derlago added a late goal at 17:45 with an extra attacker out for the Condors, but Bakersfield could get no closer.

Bakersfield out-shot Phoenix 42-24. Kowalski improved to 6-5-1 on the season with the win. The RoadRunners went 0-4 with the power play while Bakersfield was 0-6 with the man-advantage.

Sunday, Dustin Sproat scored a pair of third period goals and the Fresno Falcons erased a 2-1 deficit after 40 minutes to knock off the Phoenix RoadRunners 4-2 before 2,470 at Selland Arena.

The RoadRunners and Falcons traded goals in the opening 20 minutes. Kenny MacAulay opened the scoring for Fresno (11-4-1) at the 5:11 mark of the first when he fed a backhand pass across the slot to Adam Bert who shot it past an outstretched Kyle Jones for a 1-0 lead. Phoenix (9-7-2) countered at 12:20 on the power play as Kimbi Daniels found Daniel Sisca with a pass to the top of the crease and Sisca worked the puck around Falcons goalie Joe Fallon and into the net for his third goal of the season to tie the game at 1-1.

A physical second period that included a total of 18 penalties produced only one goal. The RoadRunners grabbed a 2-1 lead at 3:56 on the power play when Sisca punched home his second goal of the night cleaning up Michael Wilson's rebound in the slot and driving it past Fallon for the tally.

The lead would be shortlived however as Sproat netted the equalizer 3:22 into the third period to tie the score at 2-2. Sproat then scored his second of the game off a RoadRunners' turnover in front of the net at 8:04 to give the Falcons their second lead of the night at 3-2 and a lead they would not relinquish. Matt Stefanishion added an insurance goal at 15:07 to cap the scoring.

Fresno out-shot Phoenix 40-33. Jones stopped 34 shots but fell to 1-1-0 on the season with the loss. The RoadRunners went 2-8 with the power play while Fresno was 0-9 with the man-advantage.

CLOSING IN ON 800: Forward Kimbi Daniels collected three goals and five assists last week, and now has 799 career points in his 859 professional games. The 18-year veteran is currently riding a three-game scoring streak and has produced multiple-point efforts in each of those three games. Daniels leads the RoadRunners and is tied for seventh in the ECHL scoring race with six goals and 19 points.

CRAZY EIGHTS: Along with Daniels' eight-point week, Ashton Rome tallied five goals and eight points and Matt Fornataro also notched three goals and eight points during the five-game stretch to pace the RoadRunners' to their three wins. Rome and Fornataro are tied for second on the RoadRunners in scoring with 14 points apiece. Rome has collected nine goals and five assists while Fornataro has seven goals and seven assists.

ONE-GOAL WONDERS: The RoadRunners currently sport the ECHL's best record in one-goal games with a mark of 7-0-2 and 16 total points. Phoenix has never won more than 11 one-goal games in a single season and will look to best last season's 11-7-9 record in such situations.

CALL THEM THE CARDIAC KIDS: Twice last week the RoadRunners rallied from two-goal third period deficits to earn a victory. Phoenix now has three wins when trailing in the third period and overall is 2-5-0 this season when behind entering the final frame.

NEWS & NOTES: Daniel Sisca has points in four out of his last five games with two goals and four assists over that stretch...Sunday's defeat in Fresno marked the first time in seven games that the RoadRunners have lost when leading after two periods...Kimbi Daniels became the first RoadRunners' player Saturday to score two shorthanded goals in the same game. It marked the third time in their ECHL history that the RoadRunners have netted two shorthanded goals and the first time since Jan. 5, 2007 at Long Beach.

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 play just once this week as they welcome the Las Vegas Wranglers to US Airways Center at 7:05 p.m. Saturday for the first of three straight games over a stretch of seven days. Catch the broadcast 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 November 24, 2008


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Phoenix RoadRunners Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central