RoadRunners Rally Past Grizzlies 6-5 In A Shootout

Published on January 30, 2009 under ECHL (ECHL)
Phoenix RoadRunners News Release


PHOENIX, Ariz. - P.J. Fenton scored two goals and Daniel Sisca had the only goal in a shootout as the Phoenix RoadRunners beat the Utah Grizzlies 6-5 Friday night in front of 3,851 fans at US Airways Center.

The Grizzlies (15-14-12) got on the board first at 5:54 of the first period when Rob Hennigar scored off a rebound by Andy Sertich. Ryan Kinasewich also assisted on the goal that came 25 seconds after a failed penalty shot attempt by Tim Verbeek on RoadRunners' goalie Craig Kowalski.

"We had a breakdown on the fore-check and took the penalty," RoadRunners' Head Coach Brad Church said of what led to the penalty shot. "Kowalski came up with a big save."

The RoadRunners (18-18-3) tied up the game at 1-1 when Dan DaSilva set up Gino Guyer who scored from the bottom right circle at 6:45 of the second period. Phoenix took a 2-1 lead when Gord Burnett set up Fenton for a breakaway goal scored at 10:07. Fenton gave the RoadRunners a 3-1 lead at 11:56 when he tipped in a shot from Mitch Carefoot, taking a two-goal lead into the locker room at the second intermission.

"We came out hard and capitalized on our chances," Church said of the second period. "We had the opportunity to make a bigger gap but their goalie (Dan Turple) made big saves for them."

Utah narrowed Phoenix's lead to one goal at 3:05 of the third period when Sertich scored five-hole on Kowalski from the bottom left circle. Hennigar and Kinasewich assisted. Mark O'Leary gave the RoadRunners a 4-2 lead on his first goal of the season at 4:31 when he scored from the top right circle with Grizzly goalie Turple caught out of his crease. Ashton Rome had the assist.

Kinasewich countered just over a minute later when he was centered a pass by Tyler Wooddisse and scored at 5:53. The Grizzlies tied the game at 4-4 on the power play when Verbeek rifled a shot past Kowalski from the top left circle at 9:37. Sertich then gave Utah a 5-4 lead at 12:26 off a pass from Verbeek. Hennigar also assisted. Then with one minute left in the game Jim Jorgenson scored a goal from the left circle with Kowalski pulled for the extra attacker, tying the game and forcing overtime. Rome and Carefoot assisted.

"(The Grizzlies) are a hard working team," Church said. "There's a reason they've battled back and tied so many games but we were able to keep in it and earned a break in the end."

After a scoreless overtime Sisca scored the only goal of the shootout while Kowalski went 5-for-5, giving the RoadRunners a final 6-5 win.

Phoenix out-shot Utah 44-37. Kowalski stopped 32 shots to earn the victory and improve to 15-12-1 on the season. The RoadRunners went 0-1 on the power play while Utah was 1-3 with the man-advantage.

Phoenix concludes the weekend when the visit the Stockton Thunder at 8:30 p.m. Saturday at Stockton Arena. Catch all the action live on Independent 1310 KXAM beginning with "RoadRunners Countdown" at 8:15 p.m.

The RoadRunners return to US Airways Center at 7:05 p.m. Tuesday when they welcome the Ontario Reign.

Great seats are still available beginning as low as $8 and can be purchased by calling Ticketmaster at (480) 784-4444, purchasing online ticketmaster.com or visiting the US Airways Center Box Office. 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.

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