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RoadRunners' luck runs out in Canada

November 17, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Phoenix RoadRunners News Release


'RUNNERS REWIND: The Phoenix RoadRunners were outscored 13-1 in dropping a two-game weekend series to the Victoria Salmon Kings at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre. With a record of 6-5-2 and 14 points, the RoadRunners are currently tied for third place in the West Division and tied for fifth place overall in the National Conference.

Friday, Olivier Filion tallied a pair of goals and added an assist to propel the Victoria Salmon Kings to a 4-1 victory over the Phoenix RoadRunners before 4,590 at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre.

Following a scoreless first period, Victoria (6-6-1) built a 2-0 lead with a pair of goals scored 59 seconds apart. Curtis Billsten re-directed a centering pass from Darryl Lloyd through the pads of RoadRunners' goalie Craig Kowalski at 8:04 of the second to give the Salmon Kings a 1-0 lead. Wes Goldie doubled the advantage less than a minute later on the power play when he punched home Matt Kelly's rebound at 9:03.

The RoadRunners (6-4-2) rebounded early in the third period when Daniel Sisca worked the puck around Victoria goalie Jonathan Boutin and into the net at 2:13 to cut the Salmon Kings lead to 3-1. But Filion netted a pair of goals, one on the power play at 13:14, and a second tally scored even-strength at 18:41 to seal the win for Victoria.

Victoria out-shot Phoenix 37-33. Kowalski made 33 saves but suffered the loss to fall to 4-3-1 on the season. The RoadRunners went 0-4 with the power play while Victoria was 2-6 with the man-advantage.

Saturday, Chris St. Jacques had a hat-trick and Dan Gendur tallied a pair of goals as the Victoria Salmon Kings defeated the Phoenix RoadRunners 9-0 to sweep a two-game weekend series before 4,340 at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre.

Gendur opened the scoring at 11:11 of the first period on the power play to give Victoria (7-6-1) a 1-0 lead. Gendur added a second tally 3:56 seconds after his first goal at 15:07 on the power play when he beat RoadRunners goalie Craig Kowalski with a slap shot from the center blue line. Scott Howes capped the first period scoring in the closing seconds re-directing Jeremy Swanson's point shot over the glove of Kowalski at 19:51 as the Salmon Kings went into the first intermission with a commanding 3-0 lead.

Victoria continued their offensive assault in the opening minute of the second period when Patrick Coloumbe centered the puck into the slot from behind the net and Olivier Labelle punched it home past Kowalski at 52 seconds to extend the Salmon Kings lead to four goals. St. Jacques added a fifth tally and the Salmon Kings third power play goal of the night when Curtis Billsten's shot caromed off the glass and back in front to St. Jacques who tipped it into the open net at 12:12 of the period.

St. Jacques opened the third period much as he finished the second scoring 1:56 into the frame on a power play to build the Salmon Kings lead to 6-0. Victoria would later add a shorthanded goal from Darryl Lloyd at 3:38 and then tallies from St. Jacques, his third of the game, at 12:06 on the power play and Wes Goldie at 17:30 to finish the scoring.

Victoria out-shot Phoenix 57-25. Kowalski made 37 saves but suffered the loss to fall to 4-4-1 on the season. The RoadRunners (6-5-2) went 0-6 with the power play while Victoria was 5-13 with the man-advantage.

SOMETHING IN THE AIR UP THERE: The RoadRunners were once again denied a win in Canada falling in Victoria for the seventh and eighth consecutive times. Phoenix has not tasted victory on Vancouver Island since Miguel LaFleche scored in overtime to lift the RoadRunners to a 1-0 win back on Jan. 28, 2006. Since that goal, Phoenix is 0-5-3 in their last eight contests at Victoria and has been outscored by a combined margin of 42-17. The RoadRunners return to Victoria in less than three weeks for a re-match with the Salmon Kings on Dec. 12 and Dec. 14.

MCEWAN MAKING HIS MARK: Rookie forward James McEwan is tied for the ECHL lead with six major penalties and ranks fifth overall with 50 penatly minutes through nine games. McEwan is on pace to register 400 penatly minutes, which would shatter Brent Henly's club record of 271 set back in the inaugural 2005-06 season. McEwan led the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League and finished fourth overall in the WHL with a career-high 202 penalty minutes two seasons ago during the 2006-07 campaign. His efforts earned him the honor of becoming just the fourth Kelowna-born player to be named as the Rockets captain last season in the organization's 13-year history. As a team, the RoadRunners lead the National Conference and rank second in the ECHL in penalty minutes with an average of 27.46 minutes per game. Phoenix is tied for fourth in the league with 17 major penalties.

FARM REPORT: Four RoadRunners are currently representing the club in the American Hockey League. Forwards Dan DaSilva and Andrew Desjardins, and goalie Gerald Coleman are with the team's AHL affiliate in Worcester. DaSilva has one assist and 19 penalty minutes and a plus-one rating in three games, while Desjardins has one goal, one assist, 21 penalty minutes, and a plus-two rating in nine games. Coleman is 0-2-0 in three appearances with the Sharks with a 3.23 goals against average and a .854% save percentage. Center Peder Skinner was loaned to the Lake Erie Monsters Thursday and scored his first AHL goal Sunday in a 5-3 loss to Hartford. Lake Erie is the primary affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche.

POWER OUTAGE: After beginning the season with eight goals in their first 45 tries on the power play (17.7%), the RoadRunners have scored just three times in their last 40 attempts on the man-advantage (7.5%) over the last six games. Currently, the RoadRunners power play is 21st in the ECHL converting at 12.9%.

NEWS & NOTES: The nine goals allowed by the RoadRunners was the most in the club's four-year history and the most since allowing seven back on Jan. 30, 2008 against Las Vegas...Phoenix surrendered a season-high 57 shots Saturday, just three short of the club record of 60 allowed set Dec. 4, 2007 at Utah...Second-year forward Chris Stevens made his season debut Friday after missing the first 11 games of the year due to injury. Stevens collected eight goals, 25 points, and 110 penalty minutes in 67 games as a rookie in 2007-08...Victoria native and emergency goalie Trevor Lunn made his professional debut Saturday when he came on in relief of injured starter Craig Kowalski at the 3:38 mark of the third period. Lunn stopped 11 of the 13 shots he faced...After scoring the opening goal in six out of their first nine games, the RoadRunners have allowed their opponent to score first in four straight contests.

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 embark on their busiest week of the 2008-09 season as they play a total of five games in six nights. Phoenix will open a three-game home-stand at 7:05 p.m. Tuesday when they welcome the Las Vegas Wranglers to US Airways Center, and will then host the Bakersfield Condors in a two-game series at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday and Friday. The RoadRunners will immediately hit the road after Friday's game as they visit Bakersfield at 8:00 p.m. Saturday and then travel to Fresno at 8:05 p.m. Sunday. Catch Saturday's and Sunday's road contests live on Independent 1310 KXAM and all five games 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 17, 2008


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