Roadrunners' Win Streak Snapped in 8-2 Defeat to Coachella Valley

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Tucson Roadrunners

Roadrunners' Win Streak Snapped in 8-2 Defeat to Coachella Valley

November 27, 2024 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Tucson Roadrunners News Release


Tucson Roadrunners defenseman Montana Onyebuchi drops the gloves against Coachella Valley forward Ian McKinnon
Tucson Roadrunners defenseman Montana Onyebuchi drops the gloves against Coachella Valley forward Ian McKinnon
(Tucson Roadrunners, Credit: Kate Dibildox)

Tucson, AZ - The Tucson Roadrunners (8-8-0-0) allowed eight unanswered goals and fell 8-2 to the Coachella Valley Firebirds (10-5-0-1) on Tuesday at Tucson Arena. Forwards Cameron Hebig and Andrew Agozzino gave the Roadrunners an early 2-0 lead, but Coachella responded with three goals in the first, two in the second and three in the third.

The loss dropped Tucson back to .500 and snapped the team's three-game win streak. The Roadrunners remain in eighth place in the Pacific with 16 points, while the Firebirds leapfrogged the San Jose Barracuda and moved into second place with 21 points after the victory.

THE RUNDOWN

First Period

The first period was a tale of two halves. The Roadrunners took a two-goal lead in the opening 10 minutes, but Coachella scored three unanswered goals in the back half to take a 3-2 lead at the break. Hebig opened the scoring on Tucson's second shot 2:38 into the game to put the Roadrunners ahead 1-0. Hebig received a neutral-zone pass from Yamamoto, glided into the Coachella zone, and beat Firebirds goalie Ales Stezka glove-side from above the faceoff circle. Less than seven minutes later, Tucson had its first opportunity on the power play from Coachella Valley forward Jani Nyman's tripping penalty. Halfway through the man advantage, Agozzino found the back of the net near the slot to make it 2-0 with 9:46 remaining. The Firebirds immediately responded and scored two goals in a 1:06 span to tie the game with seven and a half minutes to go. Firebirds forward Logan Morrison cut the deficit in half and forward Max McCormick found the equalizer. Coachella Valley had all of the momentum and eventually the lead, when defenseman Nikolas Brouillard scored the team's third goal in a four-minute span to make it 3-2 with 4:30 remaining. The Roadrunners closed the period strong after Firebirds defenseman Gustav Olofsson's tripping penalty put Tucson back on the power play with three minutes left. The first and second power-play units generated a couple of quality chances, but Stezka kept the puck out of his net to keep Coachella's lead intact. Tucson tallied the final five shots in the period and had a 15-13 shot advantage after the first.

Second Period

The Firebirds outshot the Roadrunners 12-3 and added two more goals in the middle frame to take a 5-2 lead after 40 minutes. Tucson killed an early Firebirds power play, but Coachella Valley continued to put on the pressure and outshot the Roadrunners 6-2 through the opening seven minutes. The sixth shot proved costly, when forward Jani Nyman put home a rebound past Tucson goaltender Matthew Villalta to make it a 4-2 game. After giving itself some extra breathing room, the Firebirds continued to control possession and outshot the Roadrunners 10-3 through the first half of the period. Tucson had its best scoring chance of the period on a tic-tac-toe play from Hebig, Yamamoto and captain Austin Poganski. Hebig carried the puck into the zone, dished the puck down low to Yamamoto, who passed it across the crease farside to Poganski for a one-timed opportunity that went just wide. The Roadrunners couldn't convert and Coachella Valley quickly broke out on a rush the other way. In the Tucson zone, a blocked shot landed at the foot of Firebirds forward Mitchell Stephens' stick above the crease and he chipped it over the line to extend Coachella Valley's lead to 5-2 with seven minutes remaining. Down three goals, the Roadrunners slowly built some momentum after stacking a series of strong shifts to finish the period, including a wraparound attempt from forward Curtis Douglas.

Third Period

Coachella Valley pushed its lead to four goals when its leading scorer Ryan Winterton found the back of the net just over a minute into the third. Roadrunners coach Steve Potvin pulled Villalta after the Firebirds' sixth goal and goaltender Dylan Wells made his season debut. He made five saves over the final 18:41 of the game and allowed two goals. Coachella Valley forward Jagger Firkus scored with 7:49 remaining to make it 7-2 and Winterton tallied his second of the night with 12 seconds remaining. Defenseman Montana Onyebuchi was Tucson's most impactful player in the third period with his physicality and offense. He nearly scored in the final couple of minutes when his slapshot rang off the right post. Then in the closing seconds, he dropped the gloves with Firebirds forward Ian McKinnon.

The Roadrunners will wrap up its four-game homestand and series against the Firebirds on Wednesday at Tucson Arena. Puck drop will be at 6:30 p.m. MST. Tickets can be purchased using the link here. The game will be available to stream on AHLTV on FLO HOCKEY.

ATTACHED PHOTO: Tucson Roadrunners defenseman Montana Onyebuchi drops the gloves against Coachella Valley forward Ian McKinnon in the third period of Tuesday's game at Tucson Arena. (photo credit: Kate Dibildox/Tucson Roadrunners).

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Images from this story

Tucson Roadrunners defenseman Montana Onyebuchi drops the gloves against Coachella Valley forward Ian McKinnon
Tucson Roadrunners defenseman Montana Onyebuchi drops the gloves against Coachella Valley forward Ian McKinnon
(Kate Dibildox)		   

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