RoadRunners Clinch Kelly Cup Playoff Berth

Published on April 4, 2007 under ECHL (ECHL)
Phoenix RoadRunners News Release


VICTORIA, British Columbia - The Phoenix RoadRunners clinched their first ever berth in the ECHL Kelly Cup Playoffs despite a 6-4 defeat to the Victoria Salmon Kings before a crowd of 4,212 at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre in ECHL action Wednesday. The RoadRunners advance because of Long Beach's 4-2 loss to the Las Vegas Wranglers Wednesday at the Long Beach Arena.

The two teams traded goals in an up-and-down first period. Victoria (34-32-4) opened the scoring at 12:40 when Robin Gomez stuffed Patrick Coulombe's rebound in front behind RoadRunners goalie Cody Rudkowsky for a 1-0 lead. Phoenix (27-38-7) wasted little time netting the equalizer as Mathew Deschamps beat Salmon Kings net-minder Julien Ellis with a wrist shot from the left-wing boards at 13:45 to tie the game at 1-1.

The Salmon Kings jumped ahead 3-1 on goals by Milan Gajic at 2:07 and Mike Stutzel at 8:08 of the second period respectively. The RoadRunners countered by scoring twice 35 seconds apart in the 16th minute of play to tie the contest at 3-3. Tommy Maxwell drove the net and beat Ellis with a shot under the elbow at 15:25 to cut the deficit to 3-2. Jeff Kyrzakos potted the game-tying goal 35 seconds later when he re-directed Greg Hornby's shot from the right-wing boards past Ellis at 16:00. However, it was Victoria who would have the period's final say as Kiel McLeod deflected Steve Lingren's point shot over the shoulder of Rudkowsky at 17:44 to give Victoria a 4-3 lead at the end of the second frame.

Gajic recorded his second of the game as he took a perfect lead pas from Coulombe and stuffed the puck into the upper corner of the net 9:38 into the third period to make it 5-3 Victoria. Brock Hooton got the RoadRunners back to within a goal 33 seconds later when he beat Ellis to the short side at 10:11, but Phoenix would come no closer. McLeod sealed the win for Victoria with an empty-net goal at 19:54.

Victoria out-shot Phoenix 39-29. Rudkowsky stopped 33 shots but fell to 10-21-2 on the season. The RoadRunners went 0-4 on the power play but held Victoria to 0-4 on the man-advantage.

Notes: Phoenix will play either Alaska or Las Vegas in a best-of-seven series in the first round of the Kelly Cup Playoffs...The RoadRunners have killed off 38 of their opponents last 40 power play chances on the road...Phoenix fell to 8-2 lifetime against Victoria and lost for the first time ever at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre...The RoadRunners have three players on their active roster (Justin Aikins, Greg Hornby, and Brock Hooton) who are from British Columbia.

Phoenix continues their season-ending, season-long seven-game road trip at 7:05 p.m. Friday with the second of three games at Victoria. Catch all the action live on www.phxroadrunners.com beginning with "RoadRunners Countdown" at 6:45 p.m.

Information on season tickets, half-season packages, and flex plans for the 2007-08 season of Phoenix RoadRunners Hockey are available by calling (602) 462-GOAL.

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



ECHL Stories from April 4, 2007


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.

OurSports Central