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RoadRunners finish home-stand on winning note

November 10, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Phoenix RoadRunners News Release


'RUNNERS REWIND: The Phoenix RoadRunners closed out their season-opening stretch of nine out of their first 10 games at US Airways Center by taking five of a possible six points from Las Vegas and Fresno. With a record of 6-3-2 and 14 points, the RoadRunners remain in second place in both the West Division and the National Conference for a second consecutive week.

Monday, Ashton Rome scored two goals and goalie Craig Kowalski made a season-high 44 saves as the RoadRunners defeated the Las Vegas Wranglers 2-1 in front of 1,702 fans at US Airways Center.

The RoadRunners (5-2-1) controlled the puck for most of the first period, partly due to penalties by Las Vegas (2-4-1). Phoenix was finally able to get on the board at 18:21 of the period when Ashton Rome scored stick-side on Wrangler goalie Brent Kahn six seconds after the RoadRunners killed a penalty. The 1-0 lead would hold until the intermission.

The Wranglers came out in the second period and capitalized on a 5-on-3 power play when Jeff May scored from the right point 3:46 into the period, tying the game 1-1. P.J. Atherton and Chris Neiszner had the assists. The RoadRunners came back with a goal at 12:17, however, when Rome rifled a pass from Wes Clark from the left circle. Daniel Sisca had the other assist as Phoenix took a 2-1 lead.

The third period saw Las Vegas out-shoot the RoadRunners 16-7 but Kowalski held firm in net, even as the Wranglers pulled Krahn with over a minute to play in the game, and the final score would stand at 2-1 Phoenix.

Krahn had 24 saves in the loss.

Wednesday, Gerald Coleman had 31 saves but let by six goals in a 20-round shootout as the RoadRunners lost to the Fresno Falcons 3-2 in a shootout in front of 2,466 fans at US Airways Center.

The first period started off with a lot of neutral zone play between the two teams, as neither could keep control in their own zone for much time. Fresno (6-2-0) was able to get on the board first though when Igor Gongalsky took a pass from Daryl Marcoux and scored at 10:58, giving the Falcons the 1-0 lead.

Phoenix (5-2-2) came back and tied the game 1-1 47 seconds later when Kimbi Daniels centered a pass to Matt Fornataro to score at 11:45. Mitch Carefoot had the other assist. The score would remain tied going into the first intermission as the RoadRunners outshot Fresno 17-8.

The second period was scoreless for both teams as the RoadRunners were unable to capitalize on a 5-on-3 power play to start off the period, then again halfway through the period when they had a 4-minute power play. Phoenix did, however, kill off two penalties towards the end of the second as they outshot the Falcons 11-7 and took the tie into the locker room for the second intermission.

The RoadRunners then took a 2-1 lead early in the third period on a shorthanded goal when Brett Peterson fed the puck to Gino Guyer who scored 5-hole on Falcon goalie Michael Ouzas from the slot. After that, however, Phoenix fell apart as they allowed Fresno to get 16 shots on net, including a game-tying goal with five seconds remaining in regulation from Matt Stefanishion on the right side of Coleman. Adam Berti had the assist on the goal that was scored with an extra attacker on the ice for Fresno because Ouzas was pulled from the net.

In overtime the RoadRunners outshot Fresno 5-2 and had a power play for the final minute but neither team could get the win in the five minutes as the game went to a shootout. Then in the 20th round of the shootout Spencer Carbery netted the biscuit past Coleman and gave Fresno the 3-2 win.

Ouzas had 37 saves and went 5-20 in the shootout.

Thursday, Colin Sinclair scored the game-winning goal with 2:26 left in the game and lifted the RoadRunners past the Fresno Falcons 4-3 in front of 2,817 fans at US Airways Center.

The Falcons (5-3-0) got on the board first when Jarrett Konkle fed a pass to Matt Stefanishion who scored at 5:30 of the first period, giving Fresno a 1-0 lead. Stefanishion scored again at 16:47 of the first from the bottom of the left circle, putting the Falcons up 2-0. Brennan Turner had the assist as Fresno outshot the RoadRunners (6-2-2) 16-7 and took the two-goal lead into the locker room first intermission.

The Falcons took a 3-0 lead early in the second period when Kenny MacAulay set up Josh Prudden who scored top-shelf on RoadRunners' goalie Craig Kowalski at 3:25.

The RoadRunners were finally able to get on the board at 14:56 of the second period when Mitch Carefoot scored a power play goal from the left circle, narrowing the score to 3-1. Michael Wilson had the assist. Then less than a minute later Brett Peterson scored five-hole on Fresno goalie Joe Fallon on a penalty shot that resulted from a hooking call on Turner at 15:31, making the score 3-2 Fresno.

Phoenix tied up the game at 3-3 at 6:57 of the third period when Matt Burke rifled a shot from the high slot past Fallon on the power play. Peder Skinner and Kimbi Daniels had the assists. Then at 17:34 Sinclair scored a goal from the left circle off a pass from Carefoot, making the final score 4-3 RoadRunners.

Kowalski had 42 saves in the win while Fallon had 27 saves.

Saturday, J.D. Watt recorded his first professional hat-trick and the Las Vegas Wranglers scored four times in the first period and never looked back as they went on to defeat the RoadRunners 6-2 before 4,429 at the Orleans Arena.

Las Vegas (4-4-1) opened their offensive onslaught on the first shift of the game when Chris Ferraro found a wide open Watt at the side of the net and Watt put a backhand shot by RoadRunners goalie Craig Kowalski just 27 seconds into the contest for a 1-0 lead. The RoadRunners (6-3-2) came right back though to tally the equalizer at 1:34 when Michael Wilson beat Wranglers goalie John DeCaro with a slap shot from the left point on a two-man advantage power play to knot the score at 1-1. But the Wranglers would score three unanswered goals to close out the period. On a delayed penalty, Gerard Miller fired the puck from the center blue line and it was deflected in front by Tyler Mosienko past Kowalski at 6:54 for a 2-1 Las Vegas advantage. Watt later scored his second goal of the period re-directing Mike Madill's shot from the point by Kowalski at 12:50 to make it 3-1. Mike Hamilton closed out the first period scoring finishing off a centering pass from Chris Neiszner while crashing the net at 18:31 on the power play.

After a scoreless second period, Las Vegas stretched their lead to 6-1 with goals from Chris Ferraro at 7:08 of the third and Watt's third of the night at 14:03. Dane Crowley scored his first goal in a RoadRunners' uniform at 17:20 of the period to cap the scoring for the evening.

Las Vegas out-shot Phoenix 29-28. Kowalski made 23 saves but suffered the loss to fall to 4-2-1 on the season. The RoadRunners went 1-9 with the power play while Las Vegas was 0-6.

RECORD SETTING: Despite Saturday's loss, the RoadRunners matched an ECHL club record with a six-game unbeaten streak in regulation going 4-0-2 from Oct. 24-Nov. 6. Phoenix last put together a six-game unbeaten streak in regulation from March 2-18, 2008 also going 4-0-2 in that stretch.

BACK TO WINNING WAYS: The RoadRunners snapped a pair of lengthy losing streaks to Las Vegas and Fresno last week. Phoenix ended a nine-game home losing streak to the Wranglers beating Las Vegas at US Airways Center Monday for the first time since a 6-5 shootout win on Nov. 14, 2006. The 2-1 victory also marked the RoadRunners' first win in regulation against the Wranglers on home ice in 17 tries. Phoenix then ended an eight-game winless streak Thursday against Fresno with their 4-3 come-from-behind victory. Until that win, the RoadRunners had not beaten the Falcons since Nov. 1, 2007.

GO THE DISTANCE: The RoadRunners and Fresno Falcons combined for the second longest shootout in ECHL history Wednesday with their 20-round affair that produced 40 shooters. The two clubs came up only one round short of the league's longest shootout on record that took place between Hampton Roads (Va.) and Birmingham (Ala.) on Oct. 16, 1992. Birmingham won that shootout 7-6 when Brett Barnett, the Bulls 21st shooter, scored.

PHYSICAL PRESENCE: Phoenix began play last week as the least penalized team in the National Conference with only 140 total penalty minutes, an average of 20 minutes in penalties per game, and 55 minor penalties. After a week in which the RoadRunners were penalized 48 times for 144 minutes, Phoenix now ranks fourth overall in the ECHL in penalty minutes per game averaging 25.8 minutes per contest, is second in the league with 92 minor penalties, and is third with 14 major penalties.

NEWS & NOTES: The RoadRunners gave up four goals in a period Saturday for the first time since Jan. 30, 2008 also against Las Vegas...After going just 9-24-2 against the Pacific Division in 2007-08, the RoadRunners have started 3-1-2 against the Pacific Division in 2008-09...Rookie defensemen Matt Burke, Michael Wilson, and Dane Crowley each scored their first ECHL goals last week. For Burke, it was his first professional goal after wrapping up a four-year collegiate career at Holy Cross...Phoenix has only trailed three times this season heading into the third period...The RoadRunners are tied for the ECHL lead with five wins when scoring the game's first goal.

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 visit the Victoria Salmon Kings at 8:05 p.m. Friday and Saturday in a two-game weekend series at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria, British Columbia. Catch both games live on Independent 1310 KXAM and 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 10, 2008


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