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AHL Tucson Roadrunners

Roadrunners Return from All-Star Break with Series-Opening Defeat to Abbotsford

February 11, 2023 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Tucson Roadrunners News Release


Tucson Roadrunners' Adam Cracknell and Abbotsford Canucks' Chase Wouters with Vancouver Canucks legends Daniel and Henrik Sedin
Tucson Roadrunners' Adam Cracknell and Abbotsford Canucks' Chase Wouters with Vancouver Canucks legends Daniel and Henrik Sedin
(Tucson Roadrunners, Credit: Abbotsford Canucks)

Abbotsford, British Columbia - The Tucson Roadrunners dropped the series opener to the Abbotsford Canucks on Friday with a final score of 4-0 in a game that saw scoreless first and third periods. The contest from the Abbotsford Centre was Tucson's first game out of the AHL All-Star Break and the fourth-consecutive win for the Canucks. Goaltender Ivan Prosvetov made 30 total saves on the night, while forwards Boko Imama, Nathan Smith and Travis Barron each dropped the gloves for Tucson. The Roadrunners and Abbotsford will square off again Saturday night for their fourth and final meeting of the year, with Tucson able to make it three out of four on the season series with a win.

YA GOTTA SEE IT

Roadrunners goaltender Ivan Prosvetov stopped all 12 shots faced in Friday's first period against the Abbotsford Canucks. The 23-year-old entered the series opener off of his third-straight victory and first shutout of the season on Friday, February 3 in Ontario. Prosvetov finished the contest from the Abbotsford Centre with 30 total saves, his most since he recorded 38 in his last outing against the Canucks on January 29.

DON'T OVERLOOK IT

BOKO JOINS THE RECORD BOOKS - Roadrunners forward Boko Imama dropped the gloves with Abbotsford's Vincent Arseneau with 16 seconds remaining in the opening frame Friday for his fourth fight of the season. With the bout, Imama passed forward Michael Bunting for the most penalty minutes in Roadrunners team history at 249. The 26-year-old led the AHL last season with 178 minutes spent in the penalty box, and is atop the Tucson roster in penalty minutes per-game this season with 73 total minutes through 30 outings.

PHOTO OF THE GAME

Henrik and Daniel Sedin drop ceremonial puck.

Prior to Friday's series opener between Tucson and Abbotsford, the Canucks honored members of the Hockey Hall of Fame and Vancouver Canucks legends Daniel and Henrik Sedin. Roadrunners Captain Adam Cracknell participated with the Sedins in the ceremonial puck drop after spending the 2015-2016 as their teammate in the NHL for Vancouver. In addition, Roadrunners Assistant Coach Zack Stortini netted his first career NHL goal against the Sedins and the Canucks as a member of the Edmonton Oilers on February 7, 2007.

THEY SAID IT

"To have a season with those guys, I learned a lot from them that I like to carry as a leader on this team. They helped me feel comfortable [in Vancouver] and become an even better pro. Just watching how they handled themselves off the ice, they were great human beings. To be a part of that now that they're in the Hockey Hall of Fame is really inspiring. I want to be a leader like them and am very honored to have played a season with them."

Roadrunners Captain Adam Cracknell on the Abbotsford Canucks honoring Daniel and Henrik Sedin prior to Friday's contest from the Abbotsford Centre. Cracknell spent the majority of the 2015-2016 season as a member of the Vancouver Canucks with the pair of Hockey Hall of Famers.

THE RUNDOWN

After a combined eight goals in the two opening periods between the Roadrunners and Canucks from the Tucson Arena at the end of January, the first 20 minutes of Friday's contest was without a score. Roadrunners netminder Ivan Prosvetov stopped all 12 shots faced and each team took two trips to the man-advantage. Tucson's Boko Imama dropped the gloves with Abbotsford's Vincent Arseneau with 16 seconds left in the frame for his fourth fight of the season. The Canucks got on the board first with a goal shortly after their third power-play of the contest expired to take a 1-0 lead 4:38 into the middle period. A four-on-four score added to Abbotsford's lead with 8:34 gone by in the frame, and another Canucks goal just over five minutes later made it a 3-0 game with 6:11 remaining in the second period. With 3:44 remaining in the middle frame, Abbotsford netted their first power-play goal of the season series with Tucson to extend their advantage to 4-0 entering the final 20 minutes of play. The Roadrunners refused to go away in the third period, recording each of the first five shots in the frame. A total of 52 penalty minutes were assessed with 3:20 left to play in regulation that included Roadrunners forwards Nathan Smith and Travis Barron getting into exchanges with Chase Wouters and Quinn Schmiemann of Abbotsford. Barron was given a game misconduct and backstop Ivan Prosvetov received a misconduct for leaving the crease, sending Tyler Parks between the pipes for Tucson for the remainder of the contest. An additional three trips to the penalty-kill kept the Roadrunners from finding the back of the net in the third period, as the Canucks took the series opener from Abbotsford by a final score of 4-0.

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Images from this story

Tucson Roadrunners' Adam Cracknell and Abbotsford Canucks' Chase Wouters with Vancouver Canucks legends Daniel and Henrik Sedin
Tucson Roadrunners' Adam Cracknell and Abbotsford Canucks' Chase Wouters with Vancouver Canucks legends Daniel and Henrik Sedin
(Abbotsford Canucks)		   



American Hockey League Stories from February 11, 2023


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