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RoadRunners continue tough road battles

February 5, 2007 - ECHL (ECHL)
Phoenix RoadRunners News Release


'RUNNERS REWIND: The Phoenix RoadRunners collected three more points last week in the race for the playoffs with a win and a shootout loss at Utah. With 47 points, the RoadRunners sit in third place in the West Division and seventh overall in the National Conference. Phoenix trails division and conference leader Alaska by 15 points, but is only five points behind Fresno for the #4 seed and home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs. The top eight teams in the National Conference advance to the 2007 Kelly Cup Playoffs, and currently six out of those eight teams are separated by just 10 points.

Tuesday, Jim Dahl tallied a pair of goals to propel the Stockton Thunder to a 6-3 victory over the Phoenix RoadRunners before 3,246 at US Airways Center.

Stockton (20-11-8) raced out to a 3-0 first period lead with three goals in the opening 4:54 seconds of the hockey game. Tyler Spurgeon jammed home a rebound just 29 seconds into the contest to give the Thunder a 1-0 lead. Six seconds later, Mike Lalonde shot the puck off RoadRunners goaltender Mike Morrison's glove and into the net to make it 2-0. Dahl capped the first period scoring with his first goal as a member of the Thunder, beating Morrison with a wrist shot from the slot at 4:54 on the power play.

Dahl netted his second of the game at 16:34 of the second period as beat goaltender Cody Rudkowsky, on in replace of Mike Morrison, to extend Stockton's lead to 4-0 after two periods.

Tim Verbeek netted his 10th goal of the season re-directing Beau Geisler's shot from the point at 7:49 of the third on the power play to make it 5-0. The RoadRunners would respond with a pair of goals from Dave Pszenyczny at 14:40 on the power play and Justin Aikins at 15:58 to cut the deficit to 5-2, but Liam Reddox coming out of the penalty box scored an empty-net goal at 18:06 to give Stockton their four-goal lead back at 6-2. Cam Paddock capped the scoring with the RoadRunners second power play goal of the game at 19:52 of the third.

Stockton out-shot the RoadRunners 42-38. Rudkowsky stopped 35 shots in relief of Morrison but suffered the loss to fall to 5-7-1 on the season. The RoadRunners went 2-8 on the power play while Stockton was 2-7 on the man-advantage.

Wednesday, Chanse Fitzpatrick tallied the equalizer with 2:37 remaining in regulation and Todd Jackson scored the lone goal in the shootout to spoil Joel Irving's natural hat-trick and lift the Phoenix RoadRunners to a 5-4 shootout victory over the Utah Grizzlies in the opening game of a three-game set before 3,544 at the "E"-Center.

Utah (15-24-4) struck for a pair of goals just four minutes into the first period. Irving opened the scoring 32 seconds into the contest with the first of his three goals when he flipped the puck behind RoadRunners goaltender Cody Rudkowsky for a 1-0 lead. Irving potted his second of the game and increased the Grizzlies advantage to 2-0 as he jammed home Brendan Cook's rebound through Rudkowsky's pads at 3:40 of the first. The RoadRunners (22-18-2) would finally counter scoring late in the period. Mathew Deschamps tallied his first goal of the season with a highlight-reel effort as down on the ice, Deschamps snuck a backhand shot inside the near post by Utah goalie Rob McVicar at 18:45 to cut the deficit to 2-1.

Fitzpatrick tied the game at 2-2 with his first goal of the night as he re-directed Deschamps' shot from the blue line past the sliding McVicar at 13:37 of the second period on the power play.

Utah regained their two-goal lead with a pair of goals 3:57 seconds apart in the third period. Irving netted the hat-trick as he beat Rudkowsky over the glove with a shot from the right-wing circle at 5:30 to give the Grizzlies a 3-2 lead. Ryan Kinasewich made it a 4-2 hockey game as he collected Matt Craig's rebound in front and lifted the puck into the back of the cage at 9:27 of the third. But the RoadRunners battled back from a second straight two-goal deficit to tie the game. Dave Pszenyczny beat McVicar from the slot with a shot that caromed off the post and into the net at 11:09 of the third to get the RoadRunners to within a single goal at 4-3. Fitzpatrick tied the game at 4-4 when he buried Pszenyczny's rebound at 17:23 on a two-man advantage power play to send the contest to overtime and the eventual shootout.

After a scoreless five minute overtime, Jackson scored the only goal the RoadRunners would need in the third round of the shootout as Rudkowsky stopped all five Utah shooters to seal the win.

Utah out-shot the RoadRunners 34-31. Rudkowsky stopped 30 shots to improve to 6-7-1 on the season. The RoadRunners went 2-8 on the power play while Utah was 0-7 on the man-advantage.

Friday, Luciano Aquino tallied a pair of goals to propel the Utah Grizzlies to a 5-2 win over the Phoenix RoadRunners in the middle game of this three-game series before 3,797 at the "E"-Center.

The RoadRunners and Grizzlies traded goals in the opening period. Phoenix (22-19-2) scored first at 10:14 on the power play as Olivier Latendresse flipped the puck off Utah goaltender Rob McVicar's glove and into the net to give the RoadRunners a 1-0 lead. Aquino tied the score at 1-1 as he jammed home the loose puck through the pads of RoadRunners goaltender Cody Rudkowsky at 19:31.

Utah (16-24-4) used that late first period momentum to their advantage as they tacked on a pair of goals to stat the second period. Andy Sertich found an open Aquino at the right-wing circle, and Aquino snapped the puck into the back of the net at 2:46 to give the Grizzlies a 2-1 lead. Brendan Cook made it 3-1 on a two-man advantage power play goal at 5:25 as he tipped Ryan Kinasewich's rebound past Rudkowsky and into the RoadRunners cage. Brock Hooton capitalized off a Utah turnover however at 8:11 as he raced ahead of the pack and beat McVicar with a backhand shot to cut the Phoenix deficit to 3-2 heading into the second intermission.

After a scoreless back-and-forth third period, D.J. Jelitto gave the Grizzlies a big insurance goal late in the frame as he re-directed Jimmie Kraft's shot through Rudkowsky at 17:01 to extend Utah's lead to 4-2. Chris Trick capped the scoring with a shorthanded empty-net goal at 19:39.

Utah out-shot the RoadRunners 47-28. Rudkowsky stopped 42 shots but fell to 6-8-1 on the season. Both teams went 1-5 on the power play.

Saturday, Matt Craig scored the lone goal in the third round of the shootout and the Utah Grizzlies held off the Phoenix RoadRunners 5-4 to take the rubber game of this three-game series before 6,711 at the "E"-Center.

Utah (17-24-4) ambushed the RoadRunners with a three-goal first period. Shawn Thompson opened the scoring with a shorthanded goal at 6:44. Thompson found the loose puck in the high slot and ripped a slap shot over the shoulder of RoadRunners goaltender Mike Morrison to give the Grizzlies a 1-0 lead. Jimmie Kraft extended that lead to 2-0 as he re-directed Andy Sertich's one-time slap shot from the point by Morrison at 8:51 on the power play. Craig capped the first period scoring as he finished a two-on-one break with Luciano Aquino and slipped a backhand shot behind Morrison at 16:45 to make it 3-0 heading into the first intermission.

The RoadRunners (22-19-3) came right back to tie the game with a three-goal period of their own in the second. Brock Hooton got Phoenix on the board at 12:08 as he tipped Brett Smith's centering pass by the outstretched stick of Utah goalie Rob McVicar to make it a 3-1 hockey game. Justin Aikins got the RoadRunners to within a single goal at 3-2 as he stripped Sertich at the blue line on a power play, broke in alone on McVicar, and beat the goalie with a shot through the pads at 13:43 for a shorthanded goal. Chanse Fitzpatrick tied the game at 3-3 in the closing seconds of the period as he collected Olivier Latendresse's rebound in front and slapped it into the net at 19:55 to even the game going into the third period.

Brendan Cook gave the Grizzlies a 4-3 lead with a power play goal at 5:11 of the third period as he tapped Danny Stewart's centering pass by the stick of Morrison from the top of the crease. But the RoadRunners netted the equalizer at 14:22 as Dave Pszenyczny's wrist shot from the blue line deflected off Aikins' stick and through the pads of McVicar to tie the game yet again at 4-4.

Following a scoreless five minute overtime, the Grizzlies prevailed in the shootout as McVicar stopped all five RoadRunners' shooters.

Phoenix out-shot Utah 51-39. Morrison stopped 34 shots but fell to 8-5-2 on the season. The RoadRunners went 0-9 on the power play while Utah was 2-8 with the man-advantage.

ROAD WARRIORS: The RoadRunners are 3-3-1 in their current stretch of nine out of 11 games away from US Airways Center, which began back on Jan. 19 following the ECHL All-Star Break. Phoenix has been outscored 27-26 during that time, but is 10-51 (19.6%) on the power play and 37-44 (84.1%) on the penalty kill. Justin Aikins (four goals, five assists) and Chanse Fitzpatrick (four goals, four assists) lead the team in scoring since the all-star break.

CALL THEM THE CARDIAC KIDS: The RoadRunners held the lead for a total of just 8:17 seconds in their four games this week, yet still managed to secure three points. Phoenix staged four separate comebacks during their three-game series in Utah, which included matching a season-high with a three-goal comeback Saturday. The RoadRunners also trailed by three goals on Nov. 14 against the Las Vegas Wranglers, but came back to win 6-5 in a shootout. On the season, the RoadRunners are 6-12-2 when they trail after the first period and 1-12-1 when they trail after two periods.

SHORTHANDED SPREE: Aikins tallied his team-leading second shorthanded goal of the season Saturday and the RoadRunners' ninth shorthanded goal this year. Phoenix has already tripled their shorthanded goal total from a year ago and rank tied for ninth in the ECHL in that category.

MULTIPLICITY: Aikins continues his stellar sophomore campaign as he recorded his eighth multiple-point game of the season Saturday with two goals and an assist. Center Scott May leads the RoadRunners with 10 multiple-point games in 23 contests. Dave Pszenyczny and Alexandre Rouleau lead all RoadRunners' defensemen with six multiple point games this year. Forwards Todd Jackson (6), Brett Smith (5), and Brock Hooton (5) also have produced five or more multiple-point efforts.

SLOW OUT OF THE GATE: The RoadRunners were outscored 9-2 in first periods during their four games this week. Of those nine goals, seven came in the opening nine minutes of the game. For the season, Phoenix has been outscored 57-42 in the opening period. The RoadRunners however still lead the ECHL in second period goal differential following Saturday's three-goal output. Phoenix has outscored their opposition 52-29 in middle periods this year.

NEWS & NOTES: The 51 shots on goal by the RoadRunners Saturday were three short of the club record of 54 set on Oct. 20, 2006 against Utah...Before allowing a two-man advantage power play goal Friday, Phoenix had killed off 22 consecutive power plays on the road....The RoadRunners are 12-7-2 against the West Division this season, including a 5-3-1 mark against their divisional opponents away from home. Phoenix has a winning record against every team in the West to date going 5-4-1 against Idaho, 4-3-1 against Utah, and a perfect 3-0-0 against Victoria.

"10 MINUTES IN THE BOX" ON 106.7 KWSS-FM: Join your favorite RoadRunners at 9:10 a.m. each and every Wednesday for "10 Minutes in the Box", a new weekly segment devoted entirely to your Phoenix RoadRunners on 106.7 KWSS-FM and online at www.kwss1067.com. "10 Minutes in the Box" will air weekly as part of the "Driving with Gass" radio show hosted by Kevin Gassman, which can be heard Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. Captain Cam Paddock will be this week's guest.

"FACE-OFFAGAINST KIDS CANCER" UNDERWAY: The RoadRunners kicked off their first annual "Face-Off Against Kids Cancer" with Phoenix Children's Hospital last Sunday by hosting a special Meet and Greet Party. RoadRunners' players and 19 children from across Arizona who suffer from pediatric cancer got together to play board games and tell stories at Phoenix Children's Hospital's Melvin L. Cohen Conference Center. For the next three months, the players and children will participate in a series of social events with the hopes of creating a lasting relationship and increased awareness about childhood cancer in the community. The "Face-Off Against Kids Cancer" will culminate at 7:11 p.m. Saturday, March 17 when the RoadRunners take the ice against the Las Vegas Wranglers wearing special commemorative jerseys dedicated to those Phoenix Children's patients participating in the program. These jerseys will be auctioned off immediately after the game with the proceeds benefiting the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders at Phoenix Children's Hospital and Caps For Kids, a national non-profit organization which provides hats autographed by athletes and celebrities to children who lose their hair due to the effects of chemotherapy. For more information or to find out how you can be apart of the "Face-Off Against Kids Cancer", contact the RoadRunners at (602) 379-7870.

WATCH THE 'RUNNERS LIVE IN '06-07: The RoadRunners have teamed up with B2 Networks to bring you live action of Phoenix RoadRunners hockey in 2006-07. 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 36 RoadRunners home broadcasts will be available in addition to over 25 road games in Alaska, Idaho, Las Vegas, Stockton, Utah, and Bakersfield. A cable or DSL Internet connection and Windows Media Player 9 are required to view the games.

UP NEXT: The RoadRunners return to US Airways Center at 7:11 p.m. Tuesday as they welcome the Stockton Thunder before opening a three-game series Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at Sullivan Arena against the defending Kelly Cup Champion Alaska Aces. The puck drops at 9:15 p.m. Friday and Saturday and at 7:05 p.m. Sunday. Catch all the action live at www.phxroadrunners.com beginning with "RoadRunners Countdown" 20 minutes prior to face-off. Individual game tickets for the 2006-07 regular season start as low $7 in the lower section and can be purchased at the US Airways Center Box Office and at all Ticketmaster outlets including Ticketmaster.com. Information on season tickets, half-season packages, and flex plans are available by calling (602) 462-GOAL.

PHOENIX, Ariz. - WEEK RECORD 1-2-1 - SEASON RECORD 22-19-3 - 3RD WEST DIVISION



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