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AHL Tucson Roadrunners

Roadrunners Win 4th-Straight 3-1 Over Coachella Valley

December 29, 2023 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Tucson Roadrunners News Release


Tucson Roadrunners' Justin Kirkland and John Leonard on game night
Tucson Roadrunners' Justin Kirkland and John Leonard on game night
(Tucson Roadrunners, Credit: Kate Dibildox, Tucson Roadrunners)

TUCSON, AZ - Before fans had a chance to get their Sonoran hot dogs and settle into their seats the Roadrunners had a 3-goal lead and defeated the Coachella Valley Firebirds 3-1 to improve to 18-8-1-1 on the year and pickup their fourth consecutive win Friday night at Tucson Arena.

It didn't take long for the Tucson Roadrunners to jump out to a lead on Friday night scoring a power-play goal off of the stick of Dylan Guenther at the 3:58 mark in the first period. Justin Kirkland and Victor Soderstrom picked up assists on the play and Tucson wouldn't look back. 32 seconds later Milos Kelemen would score and give Tucson a 2-0 lead. Kelemen was assisted by Aku Raty and Cam Crotty. The following face-off would be won by Tucson and taken into the Coachella Valley zone and scored by John Leonard just 14 seconds after Kelemen's goal. Leonard was assisted by Justin Kirkland and Josh Doan. Tucson had a 3-0 lead just 4:44 into the game. Coachella Valley would answer with a goal at the 6:32 mark and the frame would end in a 3-1 score.

For the first time this season, neither team would score in the final two frames. What was a 3-1 game at the end of the first twenty would be a 3-1 game at the end of sixty. Over the final two frames, Tucson netminder Matthew Villalta would stop all 25 shots he faced, and the Roadrunners would kill-off three penalties over that span. Villalta would end the night stopping 36 of 37 shots on goal. The 4,863 fans in attendance would not be disappointed by the performance of Villalta and the entire Roadrunners team who won their fourth consecutive game and improved to 15-5-1-1 since November 1st.

Saturday will feature a Tucson doubleheader; The Arizona Bowl at 2:30pm followed by Star Wars Night at the Tucson Arena as the Roadrunners square off against the San Diego Gulls.

"As the game went on, we weathered their storm and it was a full team effort. We have a great group of guys, and everybody cares about each other personally and professionally. Everybody bought in to our system" said Captain Steven Kampfer after Tucson's 3-1 win and his return to from injury.

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Images from this story

Tucson Roadrunners' Justin Kirkland and John Leonard on game night
Tucson Roadrunners' Justin Kirkland and John Leonard on game night
(Kate Dibildox, Tucson Roadrunners)		   



American Hockey League Stories from December 29, 2023


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