RoadRunners Squish The Fish

Published on January 29, 2006 under ECHL (ECHL)
Phoenix RoadRunners News Release


Phoenix, Ariz. - WEEK RECORD: 2-0-0 - SEASON RECORD: 14-24-3 - 6th WEST DIVISION

‘RUNNERS REWIND: The Phoenix RoadRunners capped off the month of January with a two-game sweep of the Victoria Salmon Kings in their only visit this season to the Save-on-foods-Memorial Centre. The RoadRunners remain in sixth place in the West Division with 31 points, two points behind fifth place Victoria with two games in hand, and 16 points behind fourth place Utah for the final playoff spot in the West Division.

Friday, goaltender Mike Mole stopped four of five shooters and Miguel Lafleche and Joe Dusbabek each netted tallies in the five-round shootout to lead the Phoenix RoadRunners to a 6-5 win over the Victoria Salmon Kings before 4,466 at the Save-on-foods-Memorial Centre.

Phoenix (13-24-3) struck for three first period goals to build a 3-0 advantage. Justin Quenneville opened the scoring spree at 5:43 of the first when his slap shot from the right-wing circle beat Victoria goaltender Rob McVicar to the stick side to give the RoadRunners a 1-0 lead. Phoenix would then tack on a pair of power play goals on a two-man advantage situation. Shaun Fisher struck first, firing a slap shot from the high slot past a screened McVicar at 16:32 to extend the lead to 2-0. J-F Soucy made it a 3-0 hockey game just 1:20 seconds later when his shot was juggled by goaltender BJ Boxma in replace of McVicar, and the puck trickled into the net at 17:52.

Victoria (15-25-2) would fight back with three goals of their own in the middle period. Adam Taylor split the defense and lifted a wrist shot past RoadRunners goaltender Mike Mole at 3:29 to cut the deficit to 3-1. Ryan Wade scored a power play goal from the slot at 7:01 to bring the Salmon Kings back to within a single goal. Phoenix would counter as Joe Dusbabek gave the RoadRunners their two-goal lead back at 4-2 when he found the loose puck in the slot and beat Boxma along the ice with a power play tally at 11:32. But the Salmon Kings would net the final goal of the period. Taylor won the face-off at the left-wing circle back to Nate Forster, and Forster beat a screened Mole with a slap shot over the right shoulder at 14:34 on the power play to bring the Kings back to within one at 4-3 heading into the second intermission.

Victoria would strike for two quick power play tallies to open the third period. On a five minute power play, Steve Roberts re-directed Taylor's shot past Mole just 2:07 into the period to tie the game at 4-4. Roberts struck again with another power play goal at 5:49 to give Victoria their first lead of the evening at 5-4. But Mike Ouellet came back with the equalizer at 12:18, finishing a cross-ice pass from Quenneville to tie the contest at 5-5 and send the game to overtime and the eventual shootout.

Victoria out-shot Phoenix 39-31. Mole stopped 34 shots to improve to 9-18-3 on the season and 2-3 in shootouts. The RoadRunners were 3-5 on the power play.

Saturday, Miguel Lafleche put Justin Quenneville's rebound past Victoria goaltender BJ Boxma with 16.7 seconds left in overtime to lift the Phoenix RoadRunners to a 1-0 victory over the Victoria Salmon Kings before 4,659 at the Save-on-foods Memorial Centre.

After a scoreless 60 minutes that featured a combined 13 power plays, the Salmon Kings (15-25-3) appeared headed for the victory when Jake Riddle was sent off for an elbowing penalty at 1:27 of overtime. However, RoadRunners (14-24-3) goaltender Mike Mole turned aside all eight shots he saw on the Kings power play and 10 in total for the overtime to set up Lafleche's game-winning goal.

Victoria out-shot Phoenix 32-29. Mole stopped all 32 shots to record his second career shutout and improve to 10-18-3 on the season. The RoadRunners went 0-6 on the power play.

RECORD SETTING WEEKEND: With consecutive wins in Victoria, the RoadRunners have put together the first three-game winning streak in their brief ECHL history. Saturday's win also clinched five victories in the month of January, the highest win total so far during any month of the regular season. What makes that even more impressive is that Phoenix started January with a record of 1-6-1 in their first eight games before battling back to win four out of their final five contests to conclude the month.

OK WITH OVERTIME WORK: After starting the year with three straight shootout losses and converting on just one of 12 chances in the five-round scenario, the RoadRunners have won their last three games that have gone past regulation. Two of those victories came by way of the shootout where Phoenix has gone 4-9, while Saturday's win in the four-on-four overtime was the first overtime victory in the RoadRunners ECHL history. Phoenix was the last team in the ECHL to notch a decision in the five-minute extra frame. Meanwhile, Victoria became the last team in the ECHL to play in a shootout after overtime wasn't enough against the RoadRunners on Friday.

ONE-GOAL WONDERS: The RoadRunners have won four straight one-goal games and are now 8-5-3 overall in one-goal games this season. Five out of the RoadRunners last seven contests have been decided by a single goal.

WE'RE GOING STREAKING: Forward Justin Quenneville is currently riding a season-high five-game scoring streak. The Montreal, Quebec native has tallied three goals and eight points and has enjoyed three multiple-point games since he began the streak back on January 19. Quenneville is the hottest RoadRunner on the roster with nine points in his first eight games in Phoenix. He's recorded at least a point in six out of those eight games. Quenneville was acquired along with goaltender Ryan Cyr from Bakersfield on January 11 in exchange for goaltender Mathieu Chouinard.

WELCOME BACK: Defenseman Paul Ballantyne made his long-awaited return to the RoadRunners line-up in Victoria this past weekend. Ballantyne missed more than 10 weeks of the season and a total of 29 games after suffering a broken ankle on November 11 against Long Beach. The Waterloo, Ontario native came back with a vengeance, collecting four assists over the weekend and matching a team-high with three assists in Friday's victory. Ballantyne has six assists and seven points in just 12 games in 2005-06.

HE KEEPS GOING AND GOING AND GOING...Goaltender Mike Mole has started a Phoenix ECHL club-record 10 consecutive games in net. He's 5-4-1 over that stretch having allowed just 25 goals against 310 shots, a steady 2.47 goals against average and .925% save percentage.

ROADRUNNERS IN THE COMMUNITY: RoadRunners' Miguel Lafleche, Adam Kostichka, and Garrett Burnett will make an appearance and sign autographs at the Paradise Valley After-School Recreation Center (40th Street & Bell Road) from 5PM-6PM on Monday.

WATCH THE ‘RUNNERS LIVE IN '05-06: The RoadRunners have teamed up with B2 Networks to bring you live action of Phoenix RoadRunners hockey in 2005-06. 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 36 RoadRunners home broadcasts will be available in addition to over 25 road games in Alaska, Idaho, Pensacola, Las Vegas, San Diego, Utah, and Bakersfield. A cable or DSL Internet connection and Windows Media Player 9 are required to view the games.

UP NEXT: The RoadRunners continue their season-long nine-game stretch away from US Airways Center as they travel to Pensacola, Florida this week for a two-game series with the Pensacola Ice Pilots at 6:05PM MST Thursday and Friday. The Ice Pilots are the only opponent from the American Conference that the RoadRunners will face during their inaugural season. Catch both contests live on News Talk Radio 1100AM KFNX and Pro Sports Radio beginning with "RoadRunners Countdown" at 5:45PM MST.

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ECHL Stories from January 29, 2006


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