AHL Tucson Roadrunners

Roadrunners Earn Standings Point in Series Finale with Coachella Valley Firebirds

Published on November 13, 2022 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Tucson Roadrunners News Release


Tucson Roadrunners' Ben McCartney, Jean-Sebastien Dea and Michael Carcone on the ice
Tucson Roadrunners' Ben McCartney, Jean-Sebastien Dea and Michael Carcone on the ice
(Tucson Roadrunners)

Tucson, Arizona - The Tucson Roadrunners faced off with the Coachella Valley Firebirds Saturday night in front of a crowd of 4,388 at the Tucson Arena, closing out a two-game set with the AHL affiliate of the Seattle Kraken. The Roadrunners picked up a point in the standings as they fell to the Firebirds in overtime by a score of 4-3. Tucson Forward Mike Carcone extended his team lead for points to 14 (4g, 10a) with a goal and an assist. After Saturday's contest, the Tucson Roadrunners raised nearly $30,000 in their postgame Military Jersey auction with all proceeds going to VetTix, an organization that provides tickets to sports games, concerts and other events to Veterans and their families.

After dropping a series opener for the first time this season Friday night, the Roadrunners came out firing in game two of the set. Tucson Captain Adam Cracknell netted his third goal of the season just ten seconds into the contest for a 1-0 Roadrunners lead and the fastest goal to start a game in team history. Travis Barron added to that advantage with just under three minutes gone by in the opening frame with his first goal of the season. Barron's goal proved to be important in the early goings, as the Firebirds got on the board just 2:09 later to cut Tucson's early lead to 2-1. The Roadrunners pushed the advantage back out to two goals with a power-play strike by Mike Carcone, his fourth goal of the season. With the score, the third-year Roadrunner factored into his seventh-straight Tucson power-play goal to open the season. Coachella Valley once again answered back with a score 2:07 later to keep the Roadrunners lead at a single goal heading into the first intermission. After an opening period with five combined goals between Tucson and Coachella Valley, the middle frame of Saturday's series finale was the first period of the weekend without a goal scored. Despite the scoreless second, the Roadrunners were able to increase their shots on goal from eight to 15, while reducing the Firebirds shots on netminder Jon Gillies from seven to just two. Through 40 minutes of play, Tucson had outshot Coachella Valley 23 to nine and held onto a one-goal lead entering the third period. Saturday's scoring drought was broken with 8:11 gone by in the third period, as the Firebirds scored the first goal since the final 5:15 of the opening frame to tie the contest up at 3-3. The series finale between Coachella Valley and Tucson came down to the wire, with the game still deadlocked at three at the end of regulation. The Firebirds took a power-play into the three-on-three overtime period and scored the game-winning goal with 26 seconds gone by in the extra frame to secure a 4-3 victory.

Roadrunners Forward Mike Carcone gave his thoughts on Saturday's series finale with the Coachella Valley Firebirds. Carcone tallied a goal and an assist to extend his team lead for points to 14 (4g 10a):

"It's a long season, we play 72 games this year. There's going to be a lot of highs and lows, but guys here have already been through it. There's going to be winning streaks, there's going to be losing streaks, it's all about how you handle it. [Saturday] was a positive step in the right direction, and we'll put it behind us and move forward."

DRAWING PENALTIES - The Tucson Roadrunners were awarded seven of the ten power-plays in Saturday's series finale against the Coachella Valley Firebirds, with Mike Carcone capitalizing on the man-advantage late in the first period. The goal was Carcone's third scored on special-teams this season, as the third-year Roadrunner has factored into each of the first seven power-play goals netted by Tucson this year.

Check out the Tucson Roadrunners Statistics

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Images from this story

Tucson Roadrunners' Ben McCartney, Jean-Sebastien Dea and Michael Carcone on the ice
Tucson Roadrunners' Ben McCartney, Jean-Sebastien Dea and Michael Carcone on the ice
   



American Hockey League Stories from November 13, 2022


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